Connection
by 10Blue10
Summary: The sequel to 'Hope's First' and third in the 'TARDIS Blue Hearts' series. Hope recieves an unexpected but brilliant present for her birthday. She and her boyfriend Anthony explore the universe, and Hope has to handle a relationship, a long lost sibling and the imminent collapse of reality. If that wasn't enough, Anthony makes a mistake that changes his and Hope's lives forever.
1. Chapter 1 An Unexpected Gift

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter One – An Unexpected Gift

It was a big night for Hope. She would soon be celebrating her twenty first birthday; actually her fifty first birthday, but her friends had known her for about twenty one Earth years. She'd asked her parents for permission to borrow the TARDIS and take Anthony and their friends to loads of parties through time and space. Her mum and dad said she had to open her presents first, and then she could leave.

So Hope, along with her boyfriend Anthony and their friends Lorna, Sam and Tanya, gathered in the TARDIS console room. The girl of honour, dressed in her trademark aviators jacket and TARDIS blue jeans, couldn't wait to see what her friends and family would give her. Her little brother Danny gave her his present first, all wrapped up in paper covered in stars and planets. Hope unwrapped the cardboard box and opened it to find a small plastic figurine of herself; it had obviously been hand crafted.

"Oh, Danny, it's awesome" she smiled, lifting the little doll from the tissue paper and turning it over in her hands. The detail was astounding. "Yeah, I got it made at that Figure Maker workshop we went to last week. Remember when I asked you for a picture in your new outfit? That's what it was for" the little boy explained proudly.

Next, Tanya gave Hope a bottle of expensive perfume and a cashmere scarf. "And it's the same colour as your jeans, so it'll go with your outfit!" the fashion conscious teen enthused. Hope wrapped the scarf around her neck and struck poses for her friend's iPhone cameras. "I don't really know what girls like for 21st birthdays" admitted Sam, "but I got you a jar of jelly beans, cos who doesn't like jelly beans, and err…I sorta did the same thing as your brother, only with a sketch artist…"

Sam's present, apart from the jelly beans, was a sketch of the five of them together. It was based on a group photo that they'd taken not long after Hope regenerated. It made her so happy to have friends who didn't find her changing bodies and personalities to be weird or disturbing. Lorna, shy as she was, didn't think her present would be up to much.

The simple brown paper and box was opened to reveal a cloth leaf, with Hope's name embroidered in the language of the Gamma Forests. She traced the threads with a finger, beaming. "It's great. It's really great, I love it. I love all of them" she said truthfully. Sam clapped Anthony on the back. "Prince Charming here hasn't gone yet" he pointed out. Anthony rolled his eyes and stepped forwards to give his presents to Hope.

First, a bouquet of TARDIS blue roses. Then a selection of fine chocolates, in a heart shaped scarlet tin. To top it all off, he gave her a gold bracelet with an 'H' and 'A' engraved on the two hearts hanging from the beads. "Show off" Tanya said teasingly. Hope could hardly speak. "They're…it's…oh, _Anthony_". She handed the roses and chocolates to Lorna before wrapping her arms around Anthony's neck and giving him a passionate kiss.

They ignored Sam's catcall, but broke apart when the Doctor cleared his throat pointedly. "You still have one more present" he reminded his daughter. Anthony stepped back to a respectful distance as Anna came forward with a small velvet covered box. "Look at you, my little girl. All grown up" she smiled wistfully, stroking Hope's cheek. Hope blushed in embarrassment. "Mum" she groaned.

"I know, I'm sorry, but…a lot of things are going to change now, and I just want you to know that your father and I are here for you. All you have to do is call us" Anna told Hope, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes for some reason. Then she pressed the box into Hope's hands and stepped back to stand beside the Doctor, who put his arm around her supportively.

Hope looked down at the box, filled with excitement. It could be anything; a diamond necklace from Midnight, a brand new sonic screwdriver (actually, it was a bit small for that)...with a deep breath, she pulled off the lid to reveal a – "key. It's just a Yale lock key" she said in disappointment. "A key to what?" asked Anthony. "Oh yeah, good point. A key to what?" Hope inquired of her parents.

The Doctor pulled out his own sonic screwdriver and aimed it at an empty patch of console room. A tall grey box shimmered into view. Hope stared at it in disbelief. "That's…that's a TARDIS" she said for the benefit of the others. "Yes, I took some advice from an old friend of mine and grew a TARDIS in a decade rather than a century. It's fully functional, has automatic isomorphic Imprinting and the kitchen is stocked with all your favourite foods. Now you can take your friends to all those parties in that one instead of in ours" explained the Doctor.

Hope's mind finally connected the dots. "Hang on…are you saying, that's _my _TARDIS?" she asked, just to make absolutely sure. The Doctor sighed heavily. "I'm going to regret saying this but yes, that is your TARDIS" he replied. Hope's squeal of delight could be heard on the other side of the galaxy.

"Hrrk!" the Doctor said, or rather grunted, as his daughter rushed up and bestowed on him and Anna a crushing hug. "Oh my gosh thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best mum and dad in the universe and I love you and oh my gosh you grew a _TARDIS _for me!" She ran over to the grey time machine and placed a hand on it; the box thrummed as if in welcome. Then she put the key in the lock and opened it, stepping inside her new ship for the first time.

It was bigger on the inside, of course. The walls were bronze coloured and supported with columns of interlocking hexagons, arranged around the central console. A ramp led up to a glass floor beneath which snaked a mish-mash of wiring and circuitry. The Time Rotor had a cerulean glow and a swirling glass inset. A comfy looking chair was arranged near the console, opposite the scanner. The ceiling was domed and decorated with a holographic display of the stars.

Hope's unbridled glee gave way to quiet awe. "So what do you think?" asked her dad; she hadn't even noticed the others come in. "It's awesome" she replied, "I mean, it's incredible. I can't believe you did all this for me" she said happily. "Okay, let's make it official. Come over here" the Doctor instructed. Curious, Hope came and joined him by the TARDIS console. The Doctor typed in a set of commands and then asked Hope to put her finger in a small tube. She did so and then winced as something pricked her finger.

She frowned at her father as she pulled her hand away, and he shrugged apologetically. "It needed a blood sample" he explained. "Okay, now place your hands on the console, close your eyes, and open your mind". Hope did as he instructed and swiftly sensed her TARDIS's consciousness reaching out to her. It felt like being greeted by a new friend and getting a hug from an old friend all at once. A familial warmth spread from the console all the way through her body, before fading and settling into a corner of her mind.

Hope opened her eyes. "You're bonded to this TARDIS now. The controls will obey you, and you alone" the Doctor informed her. His voice betrayed his reluctance to let her go, yet his eyes held nothing but pride.

After bidding goodbye to her family, Hope and her friends set a course for 'the top ten best parties in the universe'. The Doctor, Danny and Anna watched the second TARDIS disappear, leaving the console room feeling uncomfortably empty. Anna looked at the patch of air where her daughter's new TARDIS had stood mere moments ago, and sighed. "I saw this coming" she admitted, "as soon she was born I knew one day, she'd be out there exploring the stars, being amazing…I just didn't think it would be this hard to watch". The Doctor wrapped his arms around her for comfort.

/

The five teenagers visited a myriad of different parties, including an Elizabethan ball, a fifty first century rave and a street party at the end of World War Two. Hope decided to call it a night, as it were, when Sam accidentally threw up on the gown of a diplomat's wife and they all had to run for it to avoid getting thrown in jail.

Back on board her TARDIS, Hope rummaged around in a compartment on the side of the console. "Here, everybody eat one of these" she said, handing out some tablets that smelled like burnt wood and tasted pretty much the same. But as soon as they'd swallowed them, her friends felt the fog of several glasses of wine and beers leave them; being a Time Lady, Hope had already detoxified her system.

"Anti-inebriation tablets. It'll prevent any hangovers in the morning" she explained. Then she dropped them off, one by one, until only Anthony remained. As Hope piloted the TARDIS to another destination, presumably his flat (he'd moved out of his parent's house four months ago), all Anthony could think was how much he'd miss her. "So um, congrats on getting a TARDIS" he said awkwardly, "if you drop by Earth, let me know".

Hope rolled her eyes. "Go look outside, but don't step out whatever you do" she told him, gesturing at the door. Anthony hesitantly opened the doors and peered out, then pulled them fully open. His jaw dropped as he beheld every hue imaginable swirling and looping above him. Every strand of light stretched into the centre of a black hole far in the distance. Hope came to stand beside him, slipping her hand into his.

"Impressive, isn't it? And there's plenty more where that came from. I can show you the birth of planets and the death of stars, things you could only dream of and things you'd never imagined in a million years. So, you wanna come with me?" she inquired casually. Her boyfriend couldn't believe his ears. "You want me to travel with you?" he asked. "Yes, dolt-head. I want you to be my companion" answered Hope.

Anthony didn't know what to say. Well, he supposed saying 'yes' would be a good start. "Yes. Yes, I would _love_ to be your companion" he agreed eagerly. Hope pecked him on the cheek. "Perfect. Listen, you look deadbeat. There's bedrooms down that corridor there, you should get some sleep" she advised, pushing him towards the archway.

He took one last look at the light show and then bid Hope goodnight. He did feel really tired, too tired to notice that the bedroom he entered looked almost identical to his flat. He brushed his teeth and crawled into bed. He was nearly asleep when the bed shifted and creaked. Opening his eyes, he saw Hope lying opposite him. "Sorry, I was just setting the TARDIS to auto-pilot. Go back to sleep" she whispered.

"Hope, we can't…" he protested drowsily. Hope pressed a finger to his lips. "Ant, we're dating, we're adults, and our parents are nowhere nearby. What have you got to worry about?" she asked, rolling over and wriggling backwards into his side. Anthony yawned and turned onto his side, wrapping an arm around Hope's waist. _She's right…there's nothing to worry about. _


	2. Chapter 2 Really, Really Bad

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

Connection 

Chapter Two – Really, Really Bad

With a yawn, Anthony roused from a deep slumber, uninterrupted except for dreaming of flying through a forest of fans. For a minute he thought he was still dreaming, as the soft whirring hum continued to permeate his bedroom. Then the fog of sleep lifted, and he remembered that he was on board his girlfriend's TARDIS. An attempt to move his right arm reminded him that said girlfriend was in bed with him, her head cushioned on his arm.

Hope stirred and opened her eyes, smiling up at him in a way that made his heart flip over. "G'morning, did you sleep okay?" she asked, sitting up. "Wonderfully…why is there a bedroom that looks just like mine on board your TARDIS?" he asked. "TARDIS's are psychic, remember?" answered Hope, "she must have wanted you to feel at home".

"Oh, err, thanks" Anthony said towards the ceiling. The machine pulsed in what he hoped was a good way. They took turns to use the en-suite bathroom (that was a change, and one Anthony didn't mind – the tiny bathroom at his flat didn't have a Jacuzzi in the corner) and get dressed. After breakfast, when they were in the console room, Hope turned to Anthony and grinned. "All of time and space is at our fingertips. Pick a star, any star" she pointed straight up at the ceiling.

Anthony craned his neck and stared up at the stars and planets revolving above them. "Hmm…that one" he decided, pointing to a bluish white dot revolving around a larger yellow one. Hope peered at it and announced "I think that's Felspoon. You'll like Felspoon; it has mountains that sway in the wind. It's awesome". She input the co-ordinates and began to dematerialise on the planet. Halfway there, however, a warning alarm began to blare.

Cursing, the Time Lady twisted a black knob which sent the high pitched relentless wee-ooh, wee-ooh, wee-ooh noise to more tolerable levels. Anthony made a mental note of where the knob was on the console. The time machine shuddered violently as Hope struggled to get it under control. Anthony just held onto one of the columns and struggled not to lose his breakfast. "Fine, do what you want you stupid thing!" Hope finally said in frustration.

The TARDIS rocked some more and finally came to a halt. Hope reached out to touch the controls, only to pull her hand back when the console sparked at her. Huffing, she said "I'm sorry I called you stupid. Happy now?" This time she touched it more cautiously, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't spark again. "What happened?" asked Anthony. "I dunno, we've just stopped. We haven't landed, we're just floating above the planet" explained Hope.

She turned on the scanner, which began picking up a large amount of temporal energy, emanating from somewhere other than the TARDIS itself. With the flick of a switch she set it to visual mode, and gave a horrified gasp that brought Anthony over from his place by the column. "What is it, what's wrong?" he asked in concern. "This is bad. This is really, really bad" she replied.

The scanner screen displayed an expanse of space, with the curve of a planet visible in the bottom right hand corner. The most arresting aspect of the scene was a thin white crack threading its way across the screen. It wasn't a crack in the screen itself, it was something outside. "That's a crack in space-time. That shouldn't exist" Hope said sombrely. "Wait, you mean like one of the cracks that erased my dad from time once?" asked Anthony, alarmed by her dark tone. Hope started to nod, and then frowned, looking closer at the screen.

"No…this is different. It's like…you know when you chip glass, and all the hairlines radiate out from where you chipped it?" she asked. Anthony nodded. "It's not exactly like that, but if it helps…I need to get a look at the bigger picture" she determined. As Hope pressed buttons and turned knobs, the screen went pure white with a red jagged line running across it. The image stretched and as it did so, more fractures became visible.

Eventually they could see a dozen or so cracks spreading from one point in space. "Right then, sorry Ant. Felspoon is just gonna have to wait!" announced the Time Lady as she set the co-ordinates for the epicentre of the cracks. She had to figure out what was what. The TARDIS resisted this flight even more than the last one. "I don't think the ship wants to go there" said Anthony, clinging to the console. "Well, tough! Cos she's gonna have to!" replied Hope.

At last, the time machine landed with a thump. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Hope grinned at her boyfriend. "You coming?" she asked. Anthony considered it; outside those doors was a strange planet, home to something dangerous that could possibly erase them both from time. "You bet" he answered, hurrying towards her. Well, he wasn't about to let her go out there on her own.

They stepped out of the TARDIS onto a barren, rain swept rocky landscape. As Anthony exited the TARDIS, Hope looked around to see what he was emerging from. The time machine had disguised itself in the form of a large grey boulder, fitting considering their surroundings. "I thought TARDIS's were boxes!" Anthony shouted over the wind. "Nah, just my dad's! Come on!" Hope yelled back, taking his hand. They picked their way between the rocks towards a cliff face, where a yawning cave offered shelter.

The cave turned out to be a tunnel, burrowing into the cliff side. Hope brushed water droplets off her hair and jacket, before pulling out her sonic screwdriver. She turned in a slow circle, holding the device out in front of her. It started to beep when she pointed it down the tunnel. "Whatever caused that crack is down here" she announced, before pulling a torch out of her pocket. Not a small penlight either, but an entire UV light stick. "Bigger on the inside" she said in answer to Anthony's questioning stare, handing it to him.

They made their way down the tunnel, which twisted like a rabbit warren. "How're we gonna find our way out of here?" asked Anthony. Hope stepped gingerly over a patch of slippery rock. "First things first, we need to find out what's causing these cracks. We'll worry about escaping when it comes to it" she answered. No sooner had the words left her mouth, than a rumbling sound emanated from behind them.

A few bits of rock fell from the ceiling as the rumbling grew louder. "Run!" Hope cried, grabbing Anthony's hand and pulling him down the corridor. They threw themselves to the ground and covered their heads with their arms as rocks thundered and crashed. When the dust settled, Anthony got to his feet and helped Hope to hers. He raised the light stick to illuminate the boulders that had fallen, blocking their exit.

They dimly heard a crash further away. It must've been pretty big to resonate through the rock. "I think whatever caused the cracks in time and space is also cracking apart this cliff. Come on, there's no use trying to shift this lot. We'll have to try and find another way out" said Hope, heading down the tunnel once more. Anthony followed her faithfully.

/

It was about ten minutes before they came to the epicentre of the fractures in space-time. A large cavern had been hollowed out, though whether by the epicentre or by natural forces they couldn't be sure. Hope motioned for Anthony to stand back, and then cautiously approached the edge. She held out a mirror, tilting it this way and that to see the reflection of the…thing. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw what it was. Then she spotted something else, something brilliant.

"There's a gap at the end of the ledge, it looks like it might be a way out. But Anthony, you can't look at the light. Whatever you do _don't _look into the light" she implored him. "Why, what does the light do?" he questioned. "It's the Time Vortex. I don't know how but the Vortex is…leaking, or something. If you look into it your soul will burn, your mind will be consumed and it will strip away your existence" replied Hope. Anthony was sorry he asked.

They carefully made their way along the ledge, keeping their eyes off of the huge glow covering the opposite cave wall. It was a lot harder than Anthony expected; it was like being told not to look down, you automatically did just that. He repeated a mantra to himself in his mind – Don't look down, don't look left. Don't look down, don't look left. Hope came to a stop, and leaned back against the rock wall so Anthony could see what had stopped her.

The ledge narrowed at this point. They could still cross it, but not facing forwards. They would have to turn towards the light. "I'll go first. Just be really careful" said Hope, before edging her way out. Keeping her back pressed against the wall, she moved along the ledge one small shuffle at a time. At last she reached the wider part of the ledge and they both breathed sighs of relief.

Anthony began to inch his way along the ledge with his heart in his mouth. A yawning chasm gaped below him, with a deadly light straight ahead. It took all of his willpower not to look up, to keep his gaze fixed on the narrow ledge. When he was almost at the end, he met Hope's gaze and they shared a nervous grin. He made his final step without looking, and misjudged the distance. His foot stepped on thin air and he wobbled, eyes widening.

He didn't know what made him look up. He had no idea what possessed him to do it. But he panicked, looking around wildly for a handhold, and his gaze fell on the forbidden light. He caught a glimpse of something huge and terrible and beautiful, before a hand was clapped over his eyes and another hand yanked him to safety.

Still holding her hand over his eyes, Hope manhandled her boyfriend through the gap and into a hole rain was falling down into. "Anthony! Look at me, are you alright?" she asked urgently, removing her hand. Anthony blinked repeatedly. "Yeah…I think so. My vision's a bit blurred but apart from that I'm fine" he replied. Not satisfied, Hope scanned him with her sonic and checked the results. "Cellular structure's normal, brain waves functional; there's a small increase in your artron energy levels but that's to be expected" she determined.

Now that they'd established that Anthony was okay, and wasn't about to be erased from time, they had to try and get out. By standing on Anthony's shoulders, Hope managed to drag herself out of the cave into the rain. She pulled Anthony up after her. They ran back to the TARDIS, and when they came on board the ship blasted them with warm air. Soon they were both warm and dry. "Thanks!" Hope grinned at the Time Rotor.

She quickly grew serious again however. "I'm going to try and close the breach" she announced, before proceeding to do just that. But no matter what she tried, nothing seemed to work. In the end, she simply sealed the whole planet in a time loop; after Anthony reminded her to check if it was uninhabited or not. "It hasn't fixed it but it'll stop anybody else exploring here. I need to tell my parents about this, but I promise we'll go to Felspoon later, okay?" she told Anthony. He nodded in understanding.

As Hope contacted her parents TARDIS, Anthony briefly thought he saw his skin glow gold. When he looked again, there was nothing there. He shrugged and joined Hope besides the console, offering to help pilot the time machine.


	3. Chapter 3 Almost Exactly Alike

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Three – Almost Exactly Alike

The TARDIS landed with minimal shaking, but not on Earth. "What gives?" Hope demanded of the time ship. "Is it that hard for you to go where you're supposed to?" The TARDIS hummed and beeped. "I know I know, you're 'taking me where I need to go'" Hope said with an eye roll, making air quotes with her fingers. "Fine, but when we're done here you're taking us straight to meet my parents" she insisted. "Come on Anthony, let's go find out where we are".

"Won't the scanner tell you?" he questioned as he followed her to the doors. "This way's more fun" she answered with a grin, bouncing out of the TARDIS. They found themselves on a hillside overlooking a small town, the TARDIS disguised as a tree. The surroundings looked much like Earth, except for the three suns hanging in the sky. The Time Lady and her companion hurried down the hill and towards the village.

They approached a booth which two soldiers guarded, and Hope reached into her pocket for her psychic paper. To her surprise, when she and Anthony approached the soldiers stood to attention and saluted her. Bemused, Hope saluted back and stepped between them. Anthony made to follow, only for the soldiers to bar his way with their guns. "He's with me" said Hope, making the soldiers turn to stare at her.

One of them checked some sort of record sheet and then demanded of Hope "Who are you, and why are you attempting to impersonate our prime minister?" Hope and Anthony were now thoroughly confused. "There's been a misunderstanding, my name's Hope and this is Anthony. We don't know which planet this is" explained the Time Lady. _ I must look very similar to the mayor of this town if they mistook me for her _she thought in amusement.

After informing them that the planet was called Messaline and the town known as Huath, soldiers conversed briefly in a whisper, and then ordered Hope and Anthony to follow them. The soldiers led them through the town, with uniform box like houses that had been constructed by robots, according to Hope. Each of the identical houses was painted a different colour, as a splash of individuality. Humans mingled with aliens that appeared to be humanoid fish, with breathing apparatuses filled with a green glowing liquid. "They're called Hath, Ant. Don't stare" Hope scolded him.

At last they came to a much more ornate building, with Latin carved above the door. "That's odd, something must be wrong with the translation circuits" Hope commented, as they waited outside for permission to enter. "It's okay, I can understand it anyway" said Anthony. Growing up with stories of his father's life as a Roman had made Anthony fascinated with that culture. He had picked up the ancient language quite easily.

_Ergo isti qui non esset umquam _roughly translated as 'The ones who never would'. It must've been the motto of the town. They were escorted into the town hall and told to wait once more. A few minutes later, a young blonde woman stepped into the room. She and Hope stared at one another in surprise, finally seeing the resemblance. Both had long blonde hair, one with a ponytail and the other with a plait. They were about the same height, with similarly shaped noses. However, whereas Hope had brown eyes, the other woman had blue.

"Huh. When they said someone was impersonating me, I figured it would be someone in a wig. I'm Jenny, the prime minister of Huath. You are?" inquired the mayor, shaking Hope's hand. "Hope, and that's my boyfriend Anthony" replied the Time Lady. Jenny shook Anthony's and then turned to the soldiers with her hands on her hips. "Hope here obviously has different coloured eyes to me, and yet she had to speak before you realised you'd misidentified her. We're a peaceful society but that doesn't mean we have to be lax about security, now does it?"

The soldiers stood to attention and replied "No, ma'am!" Jenny nodded in satisfaction. "That's your only warning. Back to your posts" she ordered. The soldiers saluted and left. Jenny turned back to the newcomers and gestured to the comfortable chairs in her office. "So, what brings you to Messaline?" she inquired politely. "Let's just say my ship has a mind of its own" answered Hope, "Ant and I were on our way to meet with my parents on Earth but it landed here instead".

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Earth is about three galaxies away. You must have _really _overshot your co-ordinates" she commented. "I have a question" put in Anthony, "if your motto is 'the ones who never would' why do you have soldiers with guns?" he asked. Jenny smiled, not seeming at all offended. If anything she seemed impressed that he asked that question. Hope decided she liked Jenny. "Like I said; security. We're peaceful, not stupid. The soldiers are here to keep the peace between humans and the Hath, and help protect us from invaders" the prime minister explained.

Hope crossed her legs and said casually, "I have another question, if you don't mind. What species are you?" she inquired. Jenny gave her a stare that seemed blank, but was actually a little worried. "Human, why?" she answered. Hope shook her head. "You're not human. I can sense you, Jenny; you're the same species as me. I just want you to confirm it" she insisted.

Anthony looked between the two women in confusion. "Hang on, are you saying she's"- Hope shot him a look and he closed his mouth immediately. He'd learned not to argue when Hope gave him that look, her 'don't-question-me' look. Jenny sighed and nodded. "I'm a Time Lady. But I don't understand; how could you tell? I can't sense you" she said. "That's because I've been taught to sense other Time Lords; not that it's much use, since there are only five of us if I count you" explained Hope.

Jenny's eyes grew wider than saucers. She leaned forwards in her chair, and asked urgently, "Do you know anyone called the Doctor?" Judging by the way Hope smiled and Anthony seemed to recognise the name, Jenny guessed that they did. "Pretty well" replied Hope, "he's my dad". Jenny clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. She lowered it slowly and said shakily, "he's _my _dad…that must be why we look alike. We're sisters!" she laughed.

Hope grinned widely. "I've always wanted a sister" she said gleefully. Both of them jumped up out of their seats and hurried forwards, meeting in the middle and embracing. "Wait, hang on" interrupted Anthony, "but you didn't look like that before, you had curly brown hair and blue eyes" he said to his girlfriend, "are you saying you regenerated into someone who just happened to resemble a sister you didn't even know you had?"

"Stranger things have happened" Hope pointed out, and Anthony had to concede. Jenny frowned, looking confused and hurt all of a sudden. "You didn't know about me…didn't my dad even mention me?" she asked. "He's my dad too" Hope reminded her, and added, "but no, he…he doesn't like to talk about his past. I've met a couple of his old companions, he really only tells me about his travels with them".

Jenny schooled her features into a calm expression. "I suppose it makes sense. He _did _think I was dead…I spent thirteen years searching for him, I came back to Messaline twelve years ago hoping he might have heard about me and come looking for _me. _I wonder if he missed me" she said wistfully, gazing off into space. Hope laid her hand on Jenny's shoulder, bringing her out of her reverie. "He did. My mum says he misses everyone he's lost, that's _why _he doesn't talk about them" she reassured her.

"You've got a mum? Is she nice?" Jenny asked curiously. Hope nodded, "Her name's Anna, and yeah, she's very caring. Oh, and I've…or should I say _we've_ got a little brother, Danny. He's thirty eight" she explained. Jenny raised an eyebrow again. "Thirty eight?" she repeated dubiously. "Danny's thirty eight in Time Lord years and eight in Earth years. I'm fifty one, in Time Lord years, and 21 in Earth years. We don't age like humans. Surely you noticed you weren't aging after twenty five years?" Hope teased her newfound sister.

Said sister blushed and shrugged. "I was a bit busy" she retorted, and then sighed. "I guess this means I'm the youngest sibling, if I'm just twenty five years old" she pointed out. Hope shook her head with a mischievous smirk. "Actually, it doesn't, big sister" she answered, and explained "okay yes, you're the youngest in Time Lord years, but Danny and I don't use them. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to think of yourself as a fifty one year old when you don't look it. But you're twenty five years old in Earth years as well, ergo, you're the eldest".

A wide grin broke out on Jenny's face. It warmed Anthony's heart to see the two of them getting to know one another, but they did have other concerns… "Err, Hope, shouldn't we be…?" he asked his girlfriend, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the TARDIS. Hope's eyes widened with realisation. "Oh right, I completely forgot. Jen, how would you like to see my time machine?"

/

The three of them returned to the hill Hope's TARDIS had landed on. "That's a tree" said Jenny, wondering if her little sister was just having her on. Hope smirked. "Oh, ye of little faith" she muttered as she patted the bark of the tree. "How many trees do you know that hum?" she asked in a louder voice, standing aside so Jenny could place her hand on the trunk. She pulled her hand back in surprise. "Right, that's definitely not a tree. Why does it look like one?" she asked curiously.

"Chameleon circuit, the TARDIS automatically blends in with its surroundings- but there's always a keyhole somewhere" explained Hope. On the boulder, it had been a small crack in the rock, on the tree, it was a little hole. Hope slid the key in and pulled a branch that resembled a handle. The front of the tree opened up and she climbed inside, followed by Anthony and then Jenny.

Jenny stood and marvelled just inside the doors, staring open mouthed at the enormous room before her. "It's…it's bigger on the inside!" she laughed in delight. "I heard stories of my – I mean our – dad having a time machine that was bigger on the inside; but all the stories said the TARDIS was a blue box" she commented. "Only our dad's TARDIS. He broke the Chameleon circuit but he likes that form, so he never bothered to fix it. He and my mum grew this TARDIS for me as a birthday present" explained Hope.

Her big sister sighed dramatically. "I am _so _jealous!" she giggled, Hope joining in. "Like I said, this ship has a mind of its own. And I'm _really_ glad I met Jenny, but we _really _need to meet my parents and tell them about the Vortex" she directed this last part towards the Time Rotor. The lights pulsed, and Hope patted the console. "Awesome. Right then, goodbye Messaline 6037, hello Earth 2033" she announced, pulling down the dematerialisation lever.

/

Hope stepped out of her TARDIS into a field, several large hay bales scattered around. Her parents and brother stood waiting outside of their time machine opposite her, and she hurried to embrace them. "What's wrong, Hope?" her mother asked in concern. "A lot, but before that, there's someone I've brought to meet you" replied Hope, before looking at her father. "Before we could get here, the TARDIS took Ant and I to Messaline….Jenny?" she called towards her shed formed time-ship.

Jenny peered out of the door and stepped out of the TARDIS. Hope beckoned to her encouragingly and she came over. "Mum, dad, I found a big sister. Can we keep her?" Hope asked, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Jenny looked down at the little boy with the curly hair. "You must be Danny" she smiled, "Hope's told me all about you". Danny beamed up at her. "You look like twins!" he crowed in delight, looking between his two elder siblings.

"Actually he's right, you do look remarkably similar" his mother agreed. "My name's Anna, I'm Hope and Danny's mum. The Doctor told me about you, I always wished I could have met you" she smiled kindly at Jenny, who decided she liked Anna; she seemed like Hope had said, caring. Then she turned to the Doctor – her father (and her mother technically, but she preferred not to consider that).

It was jarring to remember the young, spiky haired grinning fool she'd first met, and instead see a much older man with greying hair and a stern face. However, the sternness was tempered by the soft smile playing about his lips. "Jenny" he murmured; in that one word was relief and an apology and a promise to not leave her behind again. Any bitterness Jenny might have held towards her father disappeared as she hugged him tightly.

By now Anthony had joined them, and after ruffling Danny's hair he put his arm around Hope's waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Hope and I found something dangerous today" he told her parents, "we were on our way to Felspoon when the TARDIS detected a tear in space-time; it wasn't like the ones from before, it was like the cracks that form when you chip a window".

"We found the point the cracks originated from and the _Time Vortex _was breaking through" added Hope. The Doctor and Anna stared at her in shock. "It's okay!" she said hurriedly in an attempt to reassure them, before adding "I mean, I couldn't close the breach, and I tried everything, so in the end I put it in a Time Loop…okay, it's not really okay. It's actually super bad" she admitted.

There wasn't any time to waste. They had to solve this mystery and neutralise the threat, and they would have, except… "I've got to get back to Messaline" Jenny said apologetically. She really wanted to stay and get to know them all; after twenty five years alone she finally had a family, but she had responsibilities as well. "Jenny, we have _time machines. _We can get you back to Messaline for five minutes after we left – well, I can" Hope boasted, looking at her dad pointedly. He rolled his eyes.

"Besides, I promised Ant I'd take him to Felspoon. Think about it, dad took _ages _to figure out where the other cracks came from" she pointed out, not noticing her father frown at her. "It's not like we're in a hurry. We'll keep in touch, if we find anything out about these fractures we'll just rendezvous somewhere" she continued. The Doctor shook his head. "No need. The TARDISes have a two way holographic interface projection system. Here, I'll show you how to work it…"

/

Jenny and the Doctor stood side by side outside his TARDIS. Hope and Anthony were on board her sister's, fixing the fault in the translation circuits. Well, Hope was fixing it, but Anthony was helping. Jenny held a photograph Hope had given her to look at; a picture of the Doctor, Anna and Hope in their previous incarnations. "She said you missed me, but you never talked about me. Not even once" she said without looking up at her father.

It wasn't said with bitterness, but with a want to understand. "Not to Hope. I was trying to make a clean break with her, and start over. I believed you were gone for good...sometimes I'd hear stories, about a young blonde searching for me, but whenever I went to investigate I'd be a day too late or it would be the wrong person. I didn't forget about you, though. I never do" explained the Doctor.

"I understand; you thought I was dead, I don't blame you for trying to move on" she admitted. "Dad, what happened to Donna? All Hope knows is that she had to forget everything she did with you. That's not true, is it?" asked Jenny. The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm afraid it is. There was a Meta Crisis, Donna received my mind. A human can't handle the knowledge and intellect of a Time Lord, they'd burn out. If I hadn't erased her memories, she would have died" he explained.

There was one thing Jenny didn't understand. "Why those memories? Couldn't you just erase your memories from her head?" she asked. "She was already forgetting it when I…you see, the word _erase _is a bit misleading. Memories are very complex things, Jenny" the Doctor said in the manner of a teacher lecturing a student, "they never quite disappear, they just fade into the background, into your subconscious.

"It didn't matter how much of my mind I removed from hers; as long as she remembered me, her subconscious would always believe it contained the mind of a Time Lord. It would have burned itself out; but as I say, memories are never fully forgotten. I talked to her grandfather before he passed away; Donna became much more confident, she _knew _she was more important than she'd given herself credit for. Couple that with the winning lottery ticket I gave her and she did quite well for herself" her father explained.

Jenny had liked Donna a lot, and she was happy that the ginger woman had lived a good life in the end. "I'm gonna give this back to Hope. I guess we'll see you and An- err, mum around, then?" she smiled. The Doctor nodded and kissed her forehead. "I just want you to know, I'm proud of you" he murmured in her ear. Her smile grew wider.

/

A/N: Please review! I hope you're enjoying this story. It's going to be much faster paced than the previous two stories in this series. Also, I know Hope still sounds and acts like her past self; I haven't really worked out her personality yet. In retrospect I probably should've done that before I started this story, but I was impatient, LOL.

This bit at the end with Donna is something I wish the show had addressed. Why did it have to be her memories that were erased? Why not his? This is my theory, but if you'd like to tell me yours in a review, feel free!


	4. Chapter 4 Not Even Possible

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection

If you're reading this story, I appreciate it, but I'd appreciate a review even more.

Chapter Four: Not Even Possible

_Monday _

He'd had worse Mondays, Anthony decided, as he sloshed through waist deep water. After all, who hadn't been trapped in an underwater research base, that turned out to be built under a developing volcano and was breaking apart at the seams? At least he had company; well, not the company he'd have preferred, which was his girlfriend, nor the location, which was a soft bean bag chair by the fire.

Hope and Jenny were on the other side of the base; some genius had placed the two levers needed to raise the base from the sea bed on opposite sides of the structure. He and one of the maintenance staff had gone to the left lever, whilst Hope and Jenny took the right. At last they had reached the room in which the lever was placed. One look at the steel upwards sliding door told Anthony they were in big trouble. Water leaked out from every side, and it was obvious the room beyond was completely flooded.

Okay, time to think of a plan. He'd been living for a month with two Time Ladies, surely some of their intelligence had rubbed off on him. "If we open that door it's going to wipe us out...listen, we've been using cranks to open the doors now that the water has disrupted the automatics, right?" he asked the foreman, a no-nonsense type of man called Dave Hatchley. "Yes, you were _there_" Dave pointed out.

_Oh, right. _"I'll dive down to the bottom of the door. Turn the crank to start raising the door, but close it as soon as I'm through. I'll…signal you or something, I don't know how. When the lever alarm sounds, open the door again and hold it there until I swim out. Okay, here goes nothing…" Anthony took a huge gulp of air and ducked under the water.

It was murky, but he could still make out the door. It began to slide upwards; when there was enough room for him to wriggle through, he did so, and held his hand out of the water in the 'okay' sign. He pulled his arm back quickly when the door slammed shut again. Anthony looked around for the lever; there it was, backlit by red emergency lighting in its watertight glass case. Anthony swam over to it and smashed the glass with a convenient hammer, before pulling the heavy lever down.

The alarms began blaring, muffled by the water. Anthony swam back to the door and banged on it, but it didn't open. _That traitor! _Anthony thought angrily, realising that Dave Hatchley must have made his escape whilst the going was good. He could feel the urge to inhale building…and suddenly, it stopped. He no longer felt the need to breathe, and actually felt the side of his neck to check he hadn't somehow grown gills.

Then he remembered that there was a manual crank on this side of the door as well, and felt around for it. Grasping it in his fingers, Anthony turned the crank and opened the door, heaving himself through the gap just in the nick of time. His head broke the surface of water and he gasped for breath, clinging to some piping as the base rumbled and shook. He could feel it rising, his elation along with it.

Later on, when he was reunited with the girls and received a brilliant kiss from Hope, Anthony's mind strayed back to his near drowning experience. Just how _had _he managed to go that long without air?

_Tuesday_

The dungeon was dark. Dark and cold, with a locked door and bars over the hole in the wall that served as a window. Yet the fearless threesome was not in the eighteenth century, but in the thirty second. The palace above them had resembled a modern art gallery more than anything else. "They went retro" was all Hope had said with regards the Ye Olde dungeon décor.

It was Anthony's fault they were in prison, and he felt rather bad about that. Hope had brought them to the planet Casuise, to see the Royal Palace of the Fourteenth Hundred King. Tomorrow was the coronation of the Fifteenth Hundred King, and with the help of the psychic paper, they had been allowed into the private chambers in which the ceremonial staff of honour was held.

On top of the staff, which had been locked in stasis behind a triple-encoded energy barrier, was a glass orb. Completely clear glass was rare on Casuise, so the orb was priceless. The King had been an arrogant sort, and so pleased with Hope's careful flattery that he took out the staff and allowed each of them to hold it for a moment. Anthony had been holding it when the King was informed by a servant that a diplomat of some sort had arrived. So he'd gone to place it back in its stand, when the curse of the shoelace struck.

The long and short of it was that the glass orb shattered, igniting the King's ire. He had them literally thrown in the dungeon, scratching up Anthony's knee as it hit the rough flagstones. Upon seeing his bloodied knee, Hope had given him a tissue to clean it with and kissed him, but hinted that perhaps he should just stay out of the way. So here he was, sitting in the corner of a dungeon whilst his girlfriend and her sister worked on removing the bars so they could escape before they were executed for treason.

Bored, Anthony looked down at his knee, figuring he could amuse himself slightly by seeing what kind of patterns the grazes had made. What he saw surprised him no end; there were no grazes. Not a drop of blood in sight. Bewildered, Anthony ran a finger over his knee. It was completely unharmed, as if…as if it had healed itself without his even noticing. It didn't make sense – grazes healed quickly, sure, but never _this _quickly.

"Yes!" exclaimed Hope, making Anthony jump. He looked over to see her holding one of the bars above her head in triumph. "That was the last one. Come on Ant, let's go!" she called to him. He jumped to his feet and hurried over, deciding to come back to his mysteriously healed knee later on.

_Wednesday _

Hope strolled up behind Anthony and wrapped her arms around his waist, nuzzling his neck. "Hey. So I was thinking, since we're at a disco, maybe you and I could have the next dance?" she asked. Anthony smiled at her and nodded. "Hey, Hope? Some….kind of weird things have been happening to me lately" he admitted. Hope gave an amused smirk. "Why do I get the feeling you're talking about something other than travelling in a sentient time machine and finding out your girlfriend looks like her long lost sister?"

Anthony smiled wryly. "Not that sort of weird. More like, shouldn't be possible kind of weird…okay, that didn't help. It's just…in that sea base, I nearly drowned" he told Hope, not missing the way her hand clenched over his. "I didn't" he reminded her, "but before I got to breathe again, I felt like…like I didn't need to. And then just yesterday, in the dungeon, I bashed up my knee and it was healed completely the next time I looked. I just have no idea what's going on".

"Neither do I" Hope admitted with a small shrug. "I think you're looking a gift horse in the mouth…who came up with that expression, anyway? Who'd want to look in a horse's mouth? Sorry, not the point" she shook her head to get herself back on track, "you did say you nearly drowned. Whatever happened, it saved your life" Hope pointed out. Anthony hadn't thought of that.

Just then, the peppy upbeat music changed into a slower, more romantic song, 'When You Tell Me That You Love Me' by _Westlife. _A lot of people left the dance floor at this point, but some couples remained, gently swaying to the music. Anthony cleared his throat and hopped off his bar stool. "May I have this dance, milady?" he asked Hope, who took his hand with a dazzling smile. "Certainly, my good sir" she replied formally – and with a wink.

As the lyrics played, Anthony felt like they spoke of how he felt for Hope more than their 'official' couple's song did. He sang along with the chorus. "And baby, every time you touch me, I become a hero, I'll make you safe no matter where you are, and bring you everything you ask for, nothing is above me, I'm shining like a candle in the dark, when you tell me that you love me". Hope looked like she didn't know whether to smile or cry, so she did both.

"You are incredible" she told him, "I love you so much". They both sang along with the rest of the lyrics, not seeing everyone stop and look and smile at them, so lost were they in each other. When the song ended, silence descended and they finally realised they'd been singing out loud the whole time. Both of them blushed as everyone in the bar applauded. _Might as well end this with a big finish _thought Anthony, before kissing Hope passionately. The applause turned to cheers and more than a few whistles, but neither Hope nor Anthony cared.

_Thursday _

They'd been to quite a few interesting places that week alone; a flooding sea base, a modern art like palace, the not so modern dungeon of said palace. This time it was the planet Frigid, so called because of its extremely low temperatures. However, Hope had gone there with her family once and knew it had some beautiful natural ice sculptures.

The TARDIS landed on a ridge, disguised as a huge pile of ice rubble. All three of them were wearing snowcoats, gloves and woolly hats. The view from the ridge was stunning; sheets of warped and rolling ice, stretching on as far as the eye could see. Some of the ice had twisted into forms that resembled dancers, others waves, or flowers. "Is this not awesome?" Hope asked smugly as the other two gazed in awe at the sight.

"I went to a lot of places looking for dad but I never saw _anything _like this!" exclaimed Jenny. "How'd they form like this naturally?" she inquired curiously, and Hope was happy to explain. "You're never gonna believe this, but the ice is alive; don't worry, we're not hurting it or anything. It's alive like a plant is alive, it grows. Watch this" she said, breaking a part off of a wave crest sculpture. The ice began to reform immediately. Hope placed the broken piece on the slippery white ground, and it merged with the ice there. "The shape it takes is down to random chance, of course".

Jenny and Anthony were fascinated. Hope showed them a flower sculpture that she'd carved her name into as a child; the ice hadn't grown over it. Anthony tugged at the collar of his coat; it was swelteringly hot with the thick, bulky garment on, but of course he couldn't take it off. No human could survive these temperatures. He just wished there was a way to cool down, and briefly considered putting a bit of ice down the back of his neck.

No sooner had he thought this, than he felt a little cooler. Confused, Anthony thought of ice lollies, autumn weather, snowball fights; anything cold, and felt his temperature decreasing. _Huh, I guess that whole mind over matter thing really does work _he thought to himself, before focusing on hot chocolate and other warm things to make sure it didn't drop _too _much.

_Friday _

"Okay, I've got it this time for sure. Get ready to gasp in awe at the wonder that is…Felspoon!" announced Hope, throwing open the doors with a flourish. Beyond them lay a large, tree dotted grassland, devoid of mountains that swayed in the breeze. "Oh, come on! What do you have against Felspoon?" the Time Lady demanded of her TARDIS, glaring at the Time Rotor. "It's a perfectly nice planet!"

Jenny and Anthony glanced at one another. "Has she always been like this?" asked Jenny. "This version of her is a bit…on edge sometimes" he replied. Hope thumped the console and huffed. "Sorry guys, the TARDIS is being stubborn again. No Felspoon. Still, it wouldn't hurt to explore this place, would it?" she asked. Her sister and boyfriend grinned in anticipation. As they walked away from the red rock shaped TARDIS, Anthony felt the right side of his chest.

He thought he felt a strange pulsing; oh well, it was probably nothing. "I've been thinking that we should name our TARDIS" commented Jenny. Before going their separate ways, the Doctor had helped Jenny bond to Hope's TARDIS as another pilot. Hope had spent the last four weeks and a half teaching her and Anthony how to fly the time machine. "How come?" she inquired curiously.

"You said TARDISes are alive, right? So they should have names. I mean, dad's name for his TARDIS is kind of weird – he doesn't really call her 'Sexy' does he?" asked Jenny. Hope pulled a face and said "Let's not get into that. What do you think we should call the TARDIS?" she asked. Jenny replied "I was thinking Juni, short for Junior, since our TARDIS was created from a piece of your parents"… as his girlfriend and her sister discussed naming the TARDIS, Anthony kept a lookout for trouble. It helped keep his mind off the pulsing he still felt deep in his chest.

The grassland turned out to be exactly what it looked like; an African grassland, or savannah. The big giveaway was the lone bull elephant that spotted and charged at them, forcing them to flee for a nearby copse of trees. Normally, Anthony was a few steps behind the girls, but this time he actually outpaced them and reached the tree first. He didn't climb it until both Hope and Jenny were out of harm's way. "Next time just make sure _you're _safe" Hope insisted, after the elephant had wandered off.

"I want you to be safe too" he told her; inwardly, he was surprised at how quickly he'd caught his breath. All the running he'd been doing lately must've done him good. The pulsing in the right side of his chest; he supposed it was a blood vessel or something; kept time with his heart-beat. Together, it felt rather like someone was playing the drums in his chest. Da-da-da-dum. Da-da-da-dum. It felt familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it reminded him of.

_Saturday _

Hope was doing some basic maintenance on the TARDIS, or Juni, as Jenny had taken to calling the ship. The TAR- Juni seemed to approve of the name, humming happily whenever it was used. "You're not such a bad ship" she told Juni, whose Time Rotor glowed brighter. Suddenly the TARDIS gave a concerned hum and flickered the lights near one of the archways, the one that led to Anthony's bedroom.

Moments later, Anthony himself staggered into the console room, beads of sweat on his face and one hand pressed against his right side. He winced in pain. Hope scrambled to her feet and rushed over, fumbling with her sonic. "What's wrong, talk to me" she urged him. "I don't…I don't know" he gasped, "I woke up with this pain in my chest, and it's just got worse and worse. I think…a blood vessel is gonna burst or something".

He gritted his teeth and winced at the near unbearable pain, watching as Hope scanned him and turned pale at the results. Okay, that wasn't good. "What is it?" he managed to get out through clenched teeth. "That's not even possible. C'mon Ant, we gotta get you to the med bay. Juni, move it closer!" she ordered, and a door appeared in the wall beside them. "Good girl" Hope praised her TARDIS as she helped Anthony into the med bay.

Jenny came running, having been led there by the time machine. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly. "Help me lay him on the table" said Hope, and together they placed Anthony underneath an X-ray machine. "It's okay, you're gonna be fine" she told her boyfriend, before explaining to Jenny, "something's going on inside his chest, and if what my sonic says is true it's something completely impossible.

Hope took an X-ray of Anthony's chest, and gripped his hand until it developed properly. It showed his ribs and lungs, and two dark lumps. Two heart shaped lumps. In a rush of adrenaline driven insight, Anthony put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Surviving longer underwater, healing faster, running quicker, the double thud in his chest that he felt whenever Hope hugged him. "I'm turning into a Time Lord!" he gasped out in shock.

/

A/N: Dun, dun, dun! I hope nobody saw this twist coming. Oh who am I kidding, you probably saw it coming a mile off. Please read and review!


	5. Chapter 5 So Many Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection

Chapter Five – So Many Changes

They stared at the X-ray sheet in shock. "How is that possible?" asked Jenny. "I don't know!" Hope snapped at her, dragging a folded wheelchair from a corner. "Listen, take the TARDIS – Juni- to these exact co-ordinates", she rattled them off and Jenny ran to the console. Hope helped Anthony into the wheelchair, ignoring his protests that he could walk, and pushed him out of the med bay.

As soon as they'd landed, Hope pushed Anthony in the wheelchair out of the TARDIS and into a large space, which looked like a cross between a hotel lobby and an airport. "The Infinite Schism, one of the best hospitals in the universe. Dad always took me here when I got sick" explained Hope. They approached a desk at which a human male sat idly stirring a mug of tea. "My companion needs surgery, immediately" Hope told him. The man sighed and dumped a form on the desk in front of her. She pushed it aside. "He needs surgery _right now!_" she reiterated.

"All patients or carers of patients must fill out and file the appropriate forms" the young man said in a bored voice, "we're very busy here so if you could"- he gave a strangled yelp as Hope grabbed his tie and yanked him forwards. "Let me rephrase that" she growled, "I am _the Doctor's daughter _and the patient is _my boyfriend_". Then she let him go. The clerk gulped and picked up the phone. "Hello, Sister Brenna? I have a request for emergency surgery for a – one moment….a human male aged twenty years needing the removal of a….unnecessary organ…yes…I'll let them know".

He hung up and handed them three key cards with a shaking hand. "The lifts are on the right, fifth floor, room 49. Just um, file the form when you come back down" he explained. Hope smiled sweetly at him, picking up the form. "Thanks for all the help" she said as she pushed Anthony away. "This you is a lot more violent than the last one" Anthony commented. "Does that bother you?" she asked. "What would you do if I said I find it kind of attractive?" he answered, before wincing in pain.

"You just save your strength, you're gonna be just fine" Hope told him reassuringly. They were met at the door of room 49 by a nurse, Sister Brenna presumably. "We're preparing the theatre; the patient will be recovering in this room. What exactly is the problem?" she asked as she helped them lift Anthony onto a gurney. Hope handed her the X-ray sheet, and Sister Brenna stared at it in surprise. "But this is not…"

Hope finished, "not possible, we know. His body isn't designed to have two hearts in it; the new one is pressing on his lung, he's having trouble taking deep breaths" she explained. Another nurse, a Malmooth, arrived to tell Sister Brenna the surgical theatre had been prepped. Hope squeezed Anthony's hand. "You'll be fine. They'll take out the extra heart and everything will go back to normal, okay?" she promised him.

Anthony smiled up at her, or at least tried to, but it turned into a grimace. "See you later" he muttered. Jenny and Hope had to stay behind as Anthony was wheeled into surgery. Tears tracked their way down Hope's cheeks, and Jenny put her arm around her younger sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Hope" she said sympathetically. Hope wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I should…I should fetch his parents. They deserve to be here…" she sniffled.

/

In the surgery, Anthony's shirt was removed and he was placed on the operating table. "Wait!" he gasped as a nurse approached with an anaesthetic. "The part of my lung this heart is pressing on….can you remove that? Without killing me?" he asked. "We could, but why"- began Sister Brenna. "Could I survive without that piece of lung?" asked Anthony.

"I believe so. Are you saying you want to _keep _this extra heart?" asked Sister Brenna. Anthony nodded. The surgeons and nurses looked at one another, unsure of what to do…but they had a patient to operate on, there wasn't time for doubts. "Very well. We shall do our best" Sister Brenna assured Anthony, before motioning to the nurse to give him the anaesthetic. _It's all for Hope _he thought as he went under.

/

Hope was beside herself with grief; she'd sprinted back to the TARDIS the moment she'd stepped out of room 49. Moments later, she was out the time machine again and hammering frantically on the front door of Amy and Rory's house. Rory opened the door, shocked to see Hope standing there with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Hope, what's the matter?" he asked in concern.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, just as Amy came to the door. "Hope! What's happened?" she asked, and Hope sobbed even harder. "He…I didn't…Ant's hurt, I'm sorry..." she managed to get out, before gesturing at the TARDIS, which had taken the form of a blue police box. "What happened to Anthony!" cried Amy, "what have you done to him?!"

Hope glared at her. "I haven't done anything!" she shouted back. "Both of you, calm down!" Rory thundered, and the two women fell silent. Rory turned to Hope with a beseeching expression. "I know you're upset, Hope, but please tell us what happened to Anthony". Hope took a deep breath, and then another. "I took him to the Sisters of the Infinite Schism. I can take you there, I can show you what's wrong" she explained.

Rory and Amy looked at one another, a silent agreement passing between them. They locked up the house and followed Hope on board. "Has the Doctor redecorated again?" asked Amy upon seeing the unfamiliar interior. "No, this is my TARDIS. It was a birthday present…she likes to be called Juni" said Hope as she worked the controls, setting the co-ordinates for the right room instead of the foyer of the hospital.

/

When they stepped out of the time machine, Jenny looked up at them from the chair besides the bed. "You're just in time – it needs a parent's signature" she commented, waving the form. "Amy, Rory, this is my long lost big sister Jenny. I know, we look alike, it's just coincidence. As for what happened to Anthony…" Hope bit her lip and held up the X-ray sheet. "Somehow…this did. He has two hearts, and one of them is crushing part of his right lung".

Amy took the sheet and held it up to the light. "How do we know this isn't an X-ray of _your_ chest?" she demanded. Hope bit back a retort, knowing the older woman was just worried about her son, but Jenny did not. "If it was, do you think she'd be in this state? Do you think she'd do this as a _prank_? My sister is not like that" she said defensively. Amy looked guilty. "Of course…I'm sorry Hope. I shouldn't have overreacted. But how did this happen?" she asked desperately.

Hope shook her head and collapsed on the chair. "I don't know…I have a theory but it's _impossible, _it shouldn't happen…" with a deep breath, she began to explain. "The day after Ant started travelling with me, we came across…it's hard to describe, it was like the Time Vortex was bursting out…anyway, Ant looked at it by accident. He didn't mean to. I thought it hadn't affected him, he only looked at it for a second but…it's as if the Vortex changed him.

"But it makes no sense! You'd have to be exposed to the Vortex for months for it to affect you physically, and I've never even heard of it growing _organs_" she groaned in frustration. "I don't know how this happened either, but you can't blame yourself. Like you said, it was an accident" Jenny pointed out. Hope sniffled. "You don't understand. Anthony as good as told me something strange was happening to him, and I just dismissed it. If I hadn't…he wouldn't be…I could've _done _something about it" she gulped down a sob.

There was nothing more to be said at that point; Amy and Rory signed the form, Jenny left to file it, and Hope paced back and forth, occassionally blowing her nose on a ragged tissue. What was taking them so long? Anthony should've been out of surgery by then. Her mind tortured her with every worst case scenario possible; Anthony's lungs might never work properly again, Anthony might die from the surgery, Anthony might hate her for not listening to him…no, he would never hate her. She was pretty close to hating herself though.

/

When Sister Brenna opened the door to room 49, she was surprised to find two more strangers there; but she was a professional, so she didn't show it. "The surgery is finished, and you'll be glad to know it went very well. We're sorry it took so long; there was a…last minute complication" she explained as the nurses brought in Anthony, whose chest was bandaged. Amy stifled a sob at the sight of him.

They placed Anthony in the bed, and Hope stroked his cheek with her thumb. Then she frowned and felt his pulse… "Sister, with all due respect, why does he still have a double heartbeat?" she asked tensely. Sister Brenna waited until the nurses had removed the gurney. "That would be the complication. For some reason the patient insisted that we operate on his lung, not the extra heart" she revealed.

"He wanted to keep the heart? But why?" asked Rory. Hope let out a hollow laugh. "He thinks he'll be a Time Lord. But having two hearts doesn't make you a Time Lord, it doesn't work like that…why did you listen to him?" she demanded of Sister Brenna, rounding on the nurse. "What sort of hospital takes orders from a patient?"

Jenny came over and gently guided Hope back into her seat. "Hey, it's alright. We just have to wait for him to wake up, and then he can explain everything" she said soothingly. Hope felt exhausted. She grasped Anthony's limp hand in one of hers, and rested her head on the other. Worn out by the stress and guilt, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, slumped on the bed.

/

Everything was blurry. Sounds, colours and shapes blended together and Anthony felt in no hurry to make sense of them. He felt like a ten ton weight was lying on top of him. His heart…no, his _hearts_ thudded in his chest. One two three four, one two three four. It felt weird. Still, Hope would be worth it…one of the nearer blurs gradually resolved itself into a human profile, with long red hair. "Mum?" he muttered blearily.

With a colossal effort, Anthony blinked the sleep from his eyes and gazed up at his parents. "What're you guys doing here?" he asked, not that he wasn't happy to see them. He'd not paid much thought to his mum and dad this last month or so, too excited by all the travelling. He'd remembered to at least call them and tell them where he was, so that was something. "Hope brought us here" his mother told him.

Anthony looked down at Hope asleep by his side, and stroked her hair, inadvertently waking her up. "You're an idiot" she informed him, before pressing her lips to his. When she pulled away, Anthony blinked. "I might have to be an idiot more often, if it gets me kisses" he said dazedly.

"What in Krop Tor's name made you want a second heart?" she asked him, and he smiled. "So I'll have more love to give you" he replied, before adding "that was so cheesy wasn't it". Hope nodded. "Anthony, having two hearts won't make you a Time Lord. You'd need Time Sense, triple helix DNA, regeneration energy…you might as well be an Apalapuchian or a"- she was cut off by a finger on her lips. "Hope, I think you're looking a gift horse in the mouth".

Hope chuckled weakly. "I know it was risky" Anthony began, "but I figured, if a graze healed quickly so might other injuries, I can hold my breath longer, run faster, and if I ever get shot or stabbed- not that I'm planning to" he added, when Amy gasped in horror, "I'll have an extra ticker to fall back on. All of this adds up to one thing – a longer life. Cos you see, I'm selfish Hope, and I want to be with you for as long as I possibly can" he revealed.

"You have got to stop being so _wonderful_" Hope groaned, even as she was smiling from ear to ear, "you're making me look bad". Anthony chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. He looked over at his parents. "Are you guys okay with all this?" he asked them, and they nodded. They both knew the lengths one could go to for love; love could conquer anything, amnesia, death, even time itself.

However, Hope wasn't finished with him yet. "It's not safe to leave any Vortex energy inside you" she informed Anthony, "I want to get you back into the TARDIS, and do some more extensive tests". He nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. I feel a lot better anyway; I just have to wait for the dissection scar to heal up".

"Technically, it's a vivisection scar" Hope corrected, "and why wait?" She undid his bandages, revealing a thin red scar running up his chest. Then she laid her glowing hand upon it, healing it before his very eyes. "You didn't have to do that" he told her, but Hope merely shrugged. "You're worth it" she replied, helping him to stand up.

They entered the TARDIS, which hummed in welcome. "Hey, Juni" Anthony greeted the time machine, reaching out to pat it. Before his hand could touch the console, his whole body glowed golden. Energy rushed out of his fingertips and into the Time Rotor, which rumbled and flashed. "Whoa…" Anthony staggered a few steps. "What just happened?"

Hope quickly whipped out her sonic and scanned him. "There's no more Vortex energy inside you…Juni absorbed it all. Good girl" she praised the ship, before turning back to Anthony. "About turn, mister. Straight to the med bay!" she ordered. Anthony gave her a mock salute and made his way to the med bay, followed by his parents, Jenny and Hope.

/

Several scans and tests later, they'd determined that Anthony had many of the physical attributes of a Time Lord, including a respiratory bypass system, a larger and better functioning liver and of course, a secondary heart. What was more surprising was his DNA. It wasn't triple helix DNA, but some of the coding had been altered, replaced with DNA that was Time Lord rather than human.

Hope took the liberty of explaining just what had happened to Anthony's chromosomes. "At the end of every chromosome, there's a telomere, a piece of coding that protects the chromosome from damage. As the cells divide, the telomere gets shorter until eventually, the chromosome can no longer replicate and dies. Telomeres are the reason humans' age. But now, your telomeres have been replaced with the coding that allows my species to reassemble its DNA – regenerate, in other words" she told Anthony.

"Does that mean I can regenerate?" he inquired, and she shook her head. "You can heal wounds, but to change bodies like a full Time Lord would, you'd need the extra helix. What the new coding does is replace the DNA, so instead of the cells aging, they're just…renewed, continually. The extra helix contains coding that replaces the regenerative telomeres; regeneration destroys them, you see. You'll live a lot longer than most humans, maybe even centuries, but without triple helix DNA eventually..." she trailed off with a shrug.

Anthony pulled his shirt back on. "I can live with that" he agreed; it wasn't like he had much of a choice. His breathing was a little stilted, and with one lung smaller than the other he'd never quite breath normally; but that was a small price to pay for a longer life with the woman he loved.

/

They dropped Anthony's parents back home, promising to visit more often than they had been. Hope typed in the co-ordinates for Felspoon, more out of habit than anything else since Juni _never _took them there. So she was extremely surprised and gratified when she opened the doors to find a light blue meadow, and gently waving mountains in the distance. "I guess she was saving this place for a special occasion" commented Anthony.

Jenny, Hope and Anthony sat down on a large, checkered blanket, gazing contentedly at the gently swaying spires of rock. _I'll never get over how incredible the universe is _thought Jenny, quietly awed. _I have the most wonderful, incredible…_awesome_ boyfriend ever _Hope thought happily, feeling his hearts beating through her back as she leaned against him. Anthony rested his chin on the top of Hope's head, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo. _Changing species sure is strange _he thought, _but Hope is worth it. She's worth anything. _


	6. Chapter 6 Fears and Fantasies

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection

Chapter Six – Fears and Fantasies

The moment Anthony scrambled into the TARDIS, Hope had her hands on his shoulders, encouraging him to breathe nice and slow. He waved her off, even though he appreciated her concerns. His breathing might not have been the best, but he still managed to get by.

They'd been running from a tribe of natives that resembled a cross between lizards and owls, and also happened to be carnivorous. After Hope freed them from the stakes they'd been tied to, the three intrepid explorers had hightailed it back to the TARDIS. After a few gulps of oxygen from a small pouch he'd taken to carrying around in his inside pocket, Anthony was good to go.

"Right, let's add that planet to our list of places never to visit" Jenny announced, brushing beads of sweat from her forehead. "We have a list?" Anthony quipped, and they all chuckled. "I could've sworn I put in the co-ordinates for the _southern_ hemisphere, that's much more peaceful. Oh well" Hope shrugged, turning to her boyfriend. "Where d'you wanna go next?" she asked him.

Anthony blinked and focused his gaze on Hope's eyes instead of on her…he cleared his throat and replied "Oh, err, I'm not bothered. I was um, actually hoping we could chat for a bit; there are some things I want to know about Time Lords". Hope's eyes lit up. "Ooh, teacher time! Okay, we'll put together a picnic and go to…let me see…ah! I know the perfect place" she smiled widely.

Half an hour later, they'd filled a box (it was bigger on the inside, naturally) with their favourite kinds of sandwiches, crisps and soda. For Jenny it was ham sandwiches with cheese and onion crisps and coke, and Anthony had cheesy bagels with salted crisps and Fanta Orange. Hope had the oddest combination; tuna and pickle sandwiches, roast beef flavoured crisps and strawberry flavoured lemonade.

Hope, with help from Jenny, piloted the TARDIS to the planet Calypelisia. "We'll have to make you an official pilot sometime" she said to Anthony. Calypelisia was an Earth colony world in the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, renowned for its beautiful vistas of lavender fields and silver and white streaked skies. Hope had left the co-ordinates up to Juni, who landed them in a secluded meadow far from any settlements.

Jenny gazed about in awe, drinking in every inch of the scene. "It's incredible!" she breathed. Anthony hummed in agreement, although his gaze was not quite on the admittedly beautiful scenery, but rather on the graceful figure of his girlfriend. "Ant, quit staring at my ass" Hope said bluntly without looking around, shattering the moment. Anthony blushed crimson and glared at Jenny who was sniggering loudly.

"I wasn't – I was just – I" he stammered, and Hope gave him a quick peck on the cheek, which shut him up. "Never mind, just forget it. Let's dig in!" she said enthusiastically, setting down the picnic box. They spread out a blanket and sat on it cross legged in a triangle. Hope took a big bite of her tuna and pickle sandwich and swallowed at least a bit of it before speaking. "So, what d'you want to know about Time Lords?" she asked Anthony, slightly muffled through her half full mouth.

He considered it for a moment or so. "I always used to wonder, why your dad is called 'the Doctor' and you and your mum have normal names. I mean, his parents can't have named him 'the Doctor?' right?" he asked incredulously. Hope smirked in amusement and shook her head. "Nah, he has a real name, but you only know a Time Lord's true name if you're their parents or their bond mate. We can choose a title to be called by, but we're forbidden to speak our real name aloud to anyone except our bond mates" she explained.

Jenny piped up, "Wait, so you can pick a name? I'd like to do that. I'd call myself The Cavalier" she announced proudly. Hope snorted. "You want to spend your life being called 'Cavalier'? Fine, I'm calling you that from now on" she smirked. Jenny stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Why not?" she retorted, "I can be the Cavalier, you can be the Crusader, and Anthony can be the Corsair" she decided.

"No he can't, Corsair's already been taken. Plus you don't want to end up like that one did; from what my mum told me, it was less a case of rest in peace and more like rest in pieces". The other two grimaced. "If your dad is 'the Doctor', shouldn't you be 'the Nurse?'" Anthony teased Hope to lighten the mood, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Ha, ha, very funny" she grumbled. Jenny giggled, and Hope glared at her as well.

Just then, something occurred to Anthony. "Hang on, you said Time Lords could only tell their bond mates their names; but _we_ know your real name" he pointed out, gesturing between himself and Jenny. "Yeah, but Hope is my English name. I could only tell my bond mate the Gallifreyan version of my name" his girlfriend explained. An idea sparked in Anthony's consciousness; he asked, as casually as he could, what a bond mate was.

"It's someone who is really, really close to you. Not just friend close or family close, but willing to die for you close. A bond mate can feel your emotions and talk to you in your mind, and if you die, they just can't live without you. My parents are bond mates" Hope explained, before adding "but you won't ever catch _me _bonding with _anyone_".

"Not even with Anthony?" asked Jenny. Hope looked at her boyfriend, noticing that he seemed a bit disappointed. She smiled at him. "It's not you. I love having you for a boyfriend but…having a bond mate is a lot of pressure, and it's…y'know…constricting. I just don't want to be tied to someone, even if I do care about them. You understand, don't you?" she asked Anthony, who nodded. Hope beamed. "I knew you would. So what else do you want to know?"

Anthony shrugged. "Nothing, really; unless there's anything important you think I should know" he answered. Hope immediately began to rattle off important tips to remember. "Don't go near aspirin, it's poisonous to Time Lords. If one of your hearts stops, get it working again as quickly as possible..." the list seemed almost endless, "and that's about it!" she said brightly.

Jenny and Anthony tried to digest the onslaught of information. "I nearly swallowed aspirin once" Jenny remembered, paling, "the smell of it made me feel sick. I thought I was allergic to it or something". Anthony asked Hope what painkiller would heal a Time Lord, or if they were all poisonous. "Only aspirin; anything else is fine" she replied.

/

For their next escapade, the fearless threesome visited the diamond planet Midnight. Anthony suggested a planet with precious stones or minerals that couldn't be found on Earth, and Jenny had suggested a spa, so Hope had been eager to give them a place that had both. Whilst the two sisters went to the spa for facials and manicures, Anthony explored; or rather walked randomly around the complex.

That was until he spotted a sign that made his heart – hearts – twirl. He still hadn't gotten used to that yet. The sign, in graceful swirling lettering, said _Jewellers. _Anthony's meandering became focused as he zeroed in on the store. The small shop was busy with people browsing and buying, but Anthony managed to slip amongst them. He was looking for something, something very special.

When Hope claimed she'd never have a bond mate, Anthony's bubble had been well and truly burst. The way she described it, loving someone so completely...that was how he felt about her. He figured he got it from his dad, this devotion to the girl he loved. He wasn't lying about being selfish; he wanted Hope to be _his. _She wouldn't be his bond mate, but perhaps he could be his…wife.

The rational part of Anthony's mind, the very tiny piece that was not utterly infatuated with Hope, insisted he was too young to be getting married. That piece was soon silenced when Anthony reminded himself that he'd turned into a human-Time Lord hybrid, was travelling in a sentient time machine and had an alien for a girlfriend and possible fiancé. Doing things the proper way was a thing of the past.

His eyes finally alighted on the perfect ring. The band was a simple silver hoop, topped with a diamond cut to resemble a flower or, if you looked at it another way, four hearts, two for her and two for him. A lot of the other jewellery in the store seemed far too elaborate and ostentatious; not that Anthony was an expert in jewellery. This innocuous little ring however…he could tell it would be perfect.

Then the tiny rational bit of his mind reared its hideous head to remind Anthony of one small matter…he had to pay for the ring before he could propose with it. Hope had given him a credit stick, but there was no price tag on any of the merchandise (again, no expert, but that seemed like somewhat of an oversight) and for all he knew, the ring actually cost more than say, the amethyst studded tiara in the case besides it.

"Can I help you sir?" asked the sales girl, appearing at his elbow. Anthony jumped in surprise and tried to compose himself. "Um, yes, I'd like to buy that ring – yes, that one there, with the hearts" he pointed to it. The sales girl peered at it closely and checked something on a data pad. "That will be fifty five credits please" she answered, and Anthony sagged in relief. The credit stick had a hundred credits on it. "No problem" he said, with a grin. Things were starting to look up!

/

Jenny and Hope's relaxing visit to the spa didn't go entirely to plan. There had been a baby Graske loose in the facility, causing a ruckus, and poor Jenny had ended up soaked from head to foot in what could only be described as dirty bathwater. Whilst her sister was off having an extremely thorough shower, Hope and Anthony remained in the console room.

After a minute or so of silence, Hope announced her intention to teach Anthony how to fly the TARDIS. "Sorry, I meant Juni" she corrected when the time machine hummed loudly in protest at being referred to as, well, a machine. Before he could begin however, Anthony had to be bonded as an official pilot.

The bonding apparently felt different depending on the person. Hope had described the sensation as feeling like the sun itself was embracing you and filling you like you were hollowed out, and then draining away. Jenny had experienced a feeling of being welcomed home, which in effect, was true. Anthony…the moment he laid his palms on the console, he felt a sense of _empowerment_, a feeling that he could do anything he set his mind to, and a sense of _belonging, _that everything that had happened to him was the way it was meant to be.

It was uplifting and comforting all at once. "Whoa" he exclaimed when it was over. "I know, right?" Hope grinned at him. She gave a rundown of the functions of each side of the hexagonal console; in nicely simplistic terms, she never forgot that he still had a human mind, bless her. Anthony had always been a fast learner, and she only had to go over a couple of things twice before he was ready to fly Juni himself.

It sounded weird when he thought about it, but the TARDIS clearly liked having a name as if she were a person (and she _was _a person, he told himself), and Anthony didn't fancy being lost in the labyrinthine corridors. The easiest part of the process was setting co-ordinates, since it was all telepathic. All he had to do was think of the location and the TARDIS would put the co-ordinates straight into his head. He thought of Paris; the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, fancy restaurants and the Seine.

He typed in the exact co-ordinates Juni gave him and lo and behold, when they stepped out of the TARDIS they were on the pavement of a street from which the Arc and the Tower could be clearly seen, opposite a restaurant which overlooked the Seine. Juni could sure pick her locations. "Oh, I see what you're doing" said Hope, and he momentarily panicked. Had the surprise been ruined already? "We can go on a date anytime you like, unless we're busy, you just have to ask" she told him, giving him a kiss.

"Huh? Right, right! A date, that's what this is, a date…I just realised I don't have any money" said Anthony, face-palming. Hope just smiled mischievously. She pulled him across the road into the restaurant and smiled innocently at the maître-de. "Table for two, please" she requested, and since the restaurant wasn't that full, they were soon led to a table. They ordered their food and drinks and sat back to take in the pleasant ambiance.

Anthony wondered if he should ask the Big Question there, but quickly dismissed the notion. He wanted the moment to be special, private; a restaurant, no matter how fancy, was not the right place for him. Anyone could propose in a restaurant. After mulling it over for a few minutes, he knew just the place to propose to Hope. Now as for _how _to propose…

He did his best not to show it, but Anthony was nervous. He supposed it was natural; getting married was an enormous deal, a humongous deal, and it would change everything between him and Hope. His mind caught on a terrible thought…what if she said no? What if she didn't want to marry him? Anthony couldn't believe that she wouldn't. She'd never not seemed interested in him, she loved him, she'd said so herself…she was bound to say yes.

They finished their meal and paid with the handy help of the psychic paper. "So what now?" asked Hope once they were back out in the cool evening air. "Why don't we go to the Eiffel Tower? We can go straight to the top and look at the stars" suggested Anthony. It was a cloudless night. Hope agreed and they walked hand in hand all the way to the ubiquitous landmark.

At the top, they were completely alone, something Anthony was grateful for. "I met Gustave once – the guy who built the Eiffel Tower" she added in response to Anthony's puzzled stare, "I was about seven or eight. In human years, not much more than a toddler by Time Lord standards. He was a nice guy, though now that I think about it he drank a lot of wine. But I suppose if you lived in a country that makes the best wine in the world you would have a lot of it, wouldn't you?"

Anthony nodded. They began to star gaze as he built up the courage to ask the Big Question. Eventually he steeled his nerves and decided to do it before anyone else came up to enjoy the view. It was now or never. "Hope?" he began, the small royal purple box clutched in one hand. "Yeah?" she asked, turning to look at him.

He faced her head on and took a deep breath, before reciting the speech he'd made up in the restaurant and practiced in his head on the walk there. "You are the light of my life, the salt of my earth, the angel of my heaven. I would give anything to spend eternity telling you just how important you are to me, how loved you are by me. I may not have eternity, but the time I do have, be it centuries or a few measly years, I want to give them to you".

He knelt down on one knee and held up the small box. Hope clapped a hand to her mouth, tears filling her eyes. "Hope, will you marry me?" asked Anthony, his hearts hammering. He opened the box to reveal the ring glittering in the light. Hope stared at the ring, and then her eyes met Anthony's. She didn't look shocked as he'd expected, nor overjoyed as he'd hoped…she looked…_betrayed. _

Slowly, she took her trembling hand away from her mouth. "I…I thought you…" she stammered, "I thought you _understood. _I don't want this".


	7. Chapter 7 Betrayal and Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Seven – Betrayal and Confusion

"I don't want this" said Hope, shaking her head. Anthony didn't understand; he looked at her helplessly as he rose from the floor. "I told you at the picnic, I don't want to be tied to anyone. You said you understood" she reminded him. He gaped at her. "But that…I thought you were talking about having a bond mate!" he exclaimed.

Hope frowned. "Yeah…but I meant any kind of…_official _relationship" she tried to explain. "Oh, so me being your boyfriend isn't 'official' is it?" Anthony said sarcastically, "what about being your companion? Is that not 'official' either?" he asked. Hope shook her head. "No – I don't mean it like that. I just don't want to get married, stop making such a big deal of it" she huffed.

"Well then what do you expect me to do, just hang back and wait for you to change your mind?" Anthony demanded crossly. "You could always break up with me" she replied, and he glared at her. "I _can't. _Don't you realise? I'm not human anymore, I changed _species _for you! I gave up any chance I had of ever being with someone else for my entire lifetime, because I thought - I assumed – that all the kisses and all the concern you showed meant you loved me just as much!" he cried.

Hot tears sprang to Hope's eyes but she dashed them away. "I _do love you. _This is not about you Anthony" she insisted, when something awful occurred to her. "Wait…wait a minute – you only asked me about bond mates after I said I could only tell my bond mate my real name. Is that what this is about? You want to marry me so you can convince me to bond with you and learn my name?" she shouted.

Anthony was almost livid. "No! That is _not _why I want this at all!" he yelled back. In the quiet of the night it sounded unnervingly loud. "Why don't you want to marry me? And don't tell me any rubbish about it being 'official' or that you 'just don't'. If you don't want to marry me then fine, but the least you can do is tell me why" he said in a more level tone.

Hope burst into tears. "I don't know" she sobbed, and Anthony felt a pang of guilt tug at his hearts. The left one, his original heart, seemed to hurt more than the other. Before he could try to comfort her, or even apologise, Hope had ran to the cord blocking the steps and jumped over it, running down the tower; getting away from him as fast as she could.

He didn't know how long he stood there, dumbly staring at the spot Hope had been standing. The same thought rolled through Anthony's mind over and over again. _How had this all gone so wrong? _

/

Car horns honked and pigeons flurried; Hope ignored them all. She ran back to the TARDIS, back to the only piece of home in this huge city. Juni hummed in concern as she stumbled through the doors and past the console. Hope curled up on her bed, crying her eyes out. A few minutes later she had cried herself out, and the door creaked open. She looked up through red rimmed eyes, hiccupping, to see Jenny looking at her from the doorway.

"Can I come in?" asked her fellow Time Lady. Hope blew her nose on a tissue and nodded. "What happened?" asked Jenny, sitting cross legged on the bed. "Did you and Anthony fall out or … nothing's happened to him, has it?" she asked in concern. Hope shook her head. "Jenny…he asked me to marry him" she told her big sister, who looked puzzled as to why that would make Hope seem so hearts-broken. "I said no" she clarified, "I don't even know why".

Unsure what else to do, Jenny put an arm around Hope and hugged her from the side. Even though she hadn't grown up with Hope (and she wished she had been, it would have been so nice to help look after and play with a baby sibling) she still felt protective of the other Time Lady in the way only an elder sibling could. "I'm sure Anthony understands if you're not ready to get married" she said gently.

Hope sniffled. "It's not just that…I can't explain it" she complained, "it's like I'm…afraid of it. Like I'm afraid of anything…binding" she struggled to confirm. "I…part of me wants to say _yes, _to marry him because I love him, but I just can't…I'm so scared" Hope said helplessly. Jenny rubbed her arm sympathetically. "Maybe you should talk to mum and dad about it" she suggested.

"…Yeah, maybe, after I've had a rest. When you're sure Anthony is back inside the TARDIS, send her into the Vortex, would you? And please don't tell him what I said" Hope begged, "I want to tell him myself, when I've got it all straightened out in my head". Jenny nodded and left her to sleep.

/

When she woke up, Hope made her way to the console room. To her relief it was deserted, and she quickly called her parents TARDIS on the holo-phone. A holographic image of Danny appeared in front of her, beaming. "Hope!" he cried in delight, running to give her a hug and passing right through her. "I'm just a hologram Danny" she told him in amusement as he came back into her line of sight.

"Ohh…are you coming to see us? I miss you" Danny pouted. Hope smiled apologetically and shook her head. "Sorry, champ. I'm having some problems right now but I promise, as soon as I've sorted them out I'll come play with you. Can you get mum and dad?" she asked, and Danny nodded eagerly. "MUM! DAD! C'MERE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Whilst they waited for the Doctor and Anna, Hope chatted with Danny. Her parents were happy to see her. "Hello, sweetheart; what's the matter?" asked Anna. "It's about Anthony" Hope began, and the Doctor frowned. "If he's touched you…" he said warningly. Hope turned crimson and Anna slapped his arm. "Dad!", "Thief!"

Danny, for his part, couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. "Anthony touches Hope all the time" he said innocently, "he touches her when he hugs her, or when he holds her hand, or when he kisses her cheek, or when he!" –

"Yes, Danny, we get the idea" the Doctor said quickly. Hope giggled and said to Danny, "It was great seeing you again, but there's something I gotta talk to mum and dad about in private. I'll see you later, alright?" Danny pouted but didn't protest. "Atta boy. Run along, do something awesome". When her little brother had departed, Hope turned to the holograms of her parents.

She decided to just come right out and say it. "Anthony asked me to marry him and I said no, and I don't know why" Hope stated bluntly. Anna looked concerned, and uncertain; the Doctor looked like he was pleased but trying not to show it. "Oh Hope…I'm sorry" her mother ventured. Hope gave a small groan of frustration. "All I know is that I'm scared, for _no reason. _No good reason, anyway" she clarified.

"Fear isn't rational, Hope" her father reminded her. "He's right, and getting married is a big change. It's natural to be afraid of stuff like that" added her mother. Hope smiled, feeling just a little better. "I suppose…I still feel bad though, I really hurt Anthony's feelings. He went through a big change for me…I just don't know why I can't bring myself to do this for him" she sighed.

The Doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I didn't see this coming" he admitted, "if that boy decided to propose despite the lifespan differences, he must be more besotted with you than I first thought". Hope blushed and shifted awkwardly. "Heh, heh…about the lifespan thing; that's not exactly gonna be a problem anymore" she said sheepishly.

Prompted by their blank stares, Hope explained. "You know that space-time breach I mentioned? Anthony sort of looked at it for a second, and now he's sort of a…Time Lord". Her parents' expressions spoke volumes. "Not exactly full Time Lord, he's still got a human brain as far as we know. I tried to fix it but…he wanted to stay this way. For me" she admitted guiltily.

Anna came out of her stunned surprise and smiled sympathetically at her daughter. "I mean, to be honest I _want _to us to be more than just boyfriend and girlfriend. If I could just get over this stupid hang-up about marrying him I'd be happy" she continued. "Why don't you bond with him?" suggested Anna.

"Um…I don't wanna bond with him because if one of us dies, the other does too…it didn't seem very fair or…what?" she demanded, seeing that her parents were exchanging glances. "Hope, what gave you the idea that a bond mate would die if the other one did?" asked Anna. Hope looked at her incredulously. "You did! You told me if dad died you'd die with him!" she exclaimed.

Anna smiled. "There is such a thing as a metaphor, darling" she said teasingly, "and even if it were literal, you've gotten mixed up somewhat. You know about my origins; I made the decision to die with your father whilst I was still only the TARDIS. Not whilst I was in this form. When your father dies so will the TARDIS, but I won't – at least not at the same exact instant" she explained.

Light dawned behind Hope's eyes. "Oh…that's good. Awesome, even" she smiled. "You know, change isn't quite as scary when you make it yourself. You and Anthony could form a new kind of bond; one that would only be yours" suggested Anna. Before Hope could reply, Anthony himself came into the console room. "Oh, err, hello Doctor, Anna" he nodded. He was glad they were only holograms; the Doctor would probably kill him now that he undoubtedly knew he'd broken Hope's hearts.

Luckily, Hope reached for the holo-phone switch as soon as she saw him. "So it was nice seeing you, love you guys, bye!" she said quickly, before flicking it. The two holograms vanished. There was an awkward silence. "I…" Hope began, struggling to unstick the words from her throat. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have over-reacted, I was just scared. Can…can you forgive me?" she asked.

Of course Anthony's hearts relented at once. "Yes, I forgive you. There's nothing to say we have to get married right now, anyway; we have got all the time in the universe, after all" he replied. Hope smiled in relief and hugged him. "That's good. Listen, it turns out that"- before she could continue, an alarm began to emit from the console. "Oi, turn it off! We're having a moment!" Hope snapped at the TARDIS.

The high pitched beep got louder. "I don't think Juni likes being talked to like that" said Anthony, hands over his ears. "Well then she should learn to do as she's told" Hope huffed. Jenny ran into the console room. "What's happening?" she asked, hopping on one foot as she pulled on her shoe. "It's the sensor net I set up for space time breaches; there's another one, on Petrox Minor; it's in a heavily inhabited area and, of course, it's gradually getting bigger" explained Hope.

She glared angrily at the pulsing Time Rotor. "Honestly, does she _want _me to have relationship issues?" she asked rhetorically, before turning to Anthony. "Listen, I promise we'll talk later, but we've gotta take care of this. People could get hurt" she told him. "I understand. Duty calls as always, right?" he asked, giving a smart salute.

They landed in the middle of a crowded plaza, the TARDIS disguising herself as a newspaper stand, complete with a pile of local papers. According to the headlines, the biggest attraction on Petrox Minor was the newly discovered 'Golden Lightshow'. Hope couldn't believe her eyes. "Typical. Someone finds a strange anomaly and the first thing they do is get out the cameras and call the press" she said in annoyance. "Humans" scoffed Anthony. Hope looked at him and giggled.

The crowds all seemed to be moving towards the same place, so the time travellers followed them. With a bit of weaving and pushing, they made it to the front of the crowds, where a hastily erected barrier stopped people from going any further. In the middle of a large excavated pit was another space time breach, golden light spilling out of the ground. "Why isn't everybody burning up?" asked Anthony.

Hope had a theory; to confirm it, she scooped up a pebble and lobbed it over the barrier. It hit thin air and bounced off, smoking. "Force-field; it must be counteracting the emission of dangerous energies from the source" she surmised. "But if the breach is sending out harmful Vortex energy, and they've essentially trapped it in a bubble…" said Anthony, "it's going to blow".

His girlfriend nodded. "And it ain't gonna be pretty" she said grimly. Jenny held up the newspaper. "This article says that the 'Light of Petrox Minor' project is being headed by a Mr Halifax" she pointed out. "Well then, I think we ought to pay Mr Halifax a visit" said Hope.


	8. Chapter 8 Mansions and Explosions

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Eight – Mansions and Explosions

According to the newspaper, Halifax lived in the Platinum District, a street of luxurious mansions. His was the fifth one down, a four storey turreted affair reminiscent of a sixteenth century castle on Earth. "I can't believe this guy lives here, and we had to walk through slums to reach it" said Anthony. "Petrox Minor has one of the worst divisions between the rich and the poor of any planet in this sector" answered Hope with a bit of disgust. "Now let's see if anybody's home".

She stepped up and rapped her knuckles against the faux wood door. Inside a dimly lit room within the mansion, someone watched the man and two women on the security feed. "State your name and purpose" he spoke into a microphone. His voice emanated from a disc embedded in the centre of the door. Hope looked right at it, into the camera, and stated, "Hope Smith, Jenny Smith and Anthony Williams. We'd like to talk to you about your project" she finished firmly.

There was a long pause. "Enter" the disembodied voice said at last, "a servant will show you to the meeting room". The door split down the middle and swung inwards. Although the outside was architecturally old fashioned, the inside melded Victorian-esque décor with high-tech screens and chrome control panels. "Sheesh, it looks like someone took the fifth and eighth versions of my dad's TARDIS and squished them together" Hope said dismissively.

Anthony, for his part, was rather impressed; then he remembered the slums surrounding the Platinum District and changed his mind. A servant dressed completely in white showed them silently to a board room. They stood and waited for about five minutes before a door at the other end of the room opened. A middle aged man with greying black hair and a long nose stepped in. "My apologies for the delay" he said formally, "my name is Steven Halifax, CEO of Halifax Industries".

"Halifax Industries; founded thirty five years ago, builds and distributes defensive technology- including force field generators, like the one sealing the continuum breach here in the city" Hope rattled off. Halifax raised an eyebrow. "You appear to be well informed" he asked. "You can thank the journalists for that. The paper told us you were sixty and that you'd created the company when you were twenty five. Oh, and that your company creates and sells defence and security systems. It wasn't that hard to infer info from" Hope explained nonchalantly.

Halifax gestured for them to sit and positioned himself at the head of the table. Hope, Jenny and Anthony remained standing. "Suit yourself" he sighed, steepling his fingers. "You said you wished to speak to me about my project. You're going to have to be a bit more specific, my dear – I have many projects" he told Hope. Anthony took a step forward. "She's _my _dear" he said bluntly, and then added hastily, "and the project is, um, the 'Light of Petrox Major' one".

"Minor" hissed Hope. Anthony went red and resisted the urge to face-palm. "Ah yes, the anomaly; such a fascinating thing. Discovered by some plumbers a few weeks ago, laying new supply lines – of course when they died people realised the anomaly was dangerous, so they called me, naturally" said Halifax, with pride lacing his voice. The man's callous disregard for the lives that had been lost made Anthony's fist clench.

Hope walked around the table towards Halifax. "That 'anomaly' is a volatile breach in the fabric of reality, and as we speak it is leaking out lethal amounts of artron energy. Do you have a pump handy?" she asked all of a sudden. Halifax looked bewildered by the question, but sent a servant to fetch one regardless. When the servant returned with a simple bicycle pump, Hope thanked him and pulled a flat balloon from her pocket.

She placed them both on the table, the end of the pump inserted into the balloon. "Pretend this pump is the breach, and the balloon is your force-field generator" she told Halifax, pressing on the pump over and over again. As she pumped the balloon full of air she said, "the force-field is containing the energy for now, but the pressure is building, and if the breach isn't shut"- the balloon burst into pieces with a sudden _bang. _"City goes bye-bye".

Anthony couldn't help but gasp. He knew the blast would be large, but the whole city? "Do you see why you have to let us close it?" he demanded of Halifax. The man regarded the pieces of scarlet rubber littering his desk with a thoughtful expression. "This…artron energy, you called it? Is it very powerful?" he inquired coolly. "I think the fact that the explosion that will occur if we don't close the breach soon would level the city is proof enough of that. Oh, and it isn't compatible with your technology" she added.

Halifax stood up. "That can soon be rectified. You don't seem to understand that there is no issue here; I can merely siphon the energy from within the force-field and use it to power, why, the whole city…or at least the parts that can afford it" he told them. "No, you can't just 'siphon it'" snapped Jenny, "it's gone beyond that point! The energy will leak out and tear people apart one atom at a time. Are you seriously going to put your business above thousands of innocent lives?" she demanded.

The man's dark eyes flashed black with anger. "Thank you for your concern" he spat, before striding out of the room. The click of a lock could be heard in the silence that followed. A second click soon followed. Jenny and Anthony tried either door from the room; both were locked. "No problem" smiled Hope, pulling out her sonic. "Hang on; don't you want to finish your moment? I can just look the other way" suggested Jenny.

Hope looked at Anthony, who shook his head. "No, it's okay – we're not like Halifax, right? We don't put ourselves before other people" he said. Hope smiled. She stepped forward and gave him a brief kiss. "You are good" she murmured, before heading over to the door. Anthony followed her. He stood between Hope and Jenny as the former sonic-ed the door; luckily it hadn't been deadlocked.

A servant stopped and stared at him. A moment later he was sliding down the opposite wall, courtesy of Anthony's fist. "And you call _me_ violent" Hope commented. "Call it a pre-emptive strike" he replied, "I made sure just to knock him out. Can't have him running to tell Halifax we escaped, can we?" Hope scoffed. "Just be glad I sonic-ed that security camera before you duked him" she informed Anthony.

They made their way through the mansion more or less unobstructed. Hope, with the help of a small vanity mirror, would disable the cameras littered throughout the corridors before they could be spotted. "So where are we going?" asked Jenny. "To the breach, to find the force-field generator" answered Hope, "I need to get a good look at it, see how it works. If I can, I want to set it to turn off on a timer, to give us time to get back to the TARDIS and save the city" she explained.

"Hey, Hope?" Anthony began. She looked at him inquisitively. "That first breach we discovered, the one that…altered me; you couldn't close it. You tried everything, but you couldn't close it" he reminded her. Hope nodded in agreement. "I know. I told Halifax it had to be closed so he'd believe there was something to be done about it. Not that he cares either way" she added bitterly. "Don't worry, I have a plan" she told Anthony.

They emerged from the mansion, only to be seized by several dark clothed people wearing balaclavas. "Get off!" they cried, lashing out; but they were outnumbered, and soon overwhelmed. The thugs bundled them into the back of a black van, which rushed off at speed. "Does one of you want to tell us what's going on?" asked Jenny with an indignant huff.

One of the balaclava wearing kidnappers pulled off their woollen mask, revealing a round face with dark brown eyes and sandy blonde hair. "Simple, we need information. Now, what do you know about the LPM Project?" he demanded.

/

A/N: Cliff-hanger! I know this chapter is pretty short, but there should be more sooner rather than later, hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9 Lots of Ideas

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Nine- Lots of Ideas

The time travellers looked at one another and got to their feet, only to fall over again as the van skidded around a corner. "Ow! Can't you guys slow down?" asked Anthony. "We need to get away from Halifax's mansion as soon as possible" replied the first man, who appeared to be the leader of their kidnappers. Speaking of which, "Why did you kidnap us?" asked Hope.

"We bugged the door with our own camera and microphone" replied the man, "we heard you saying that you wanted to talk to Mr Halifax about his project. We didn't know whether you were on Halifax's side or not, so we didn't want to take any risks" he explained. "You know you could have just asked" Jenny grumbled. "For your information, we were trying to stop Halifax's project before this city is destroyed…you know, I don't think I ever got the name of this place" said Anthony.

"Sterintol" answered Hope, before looking back at the man. "Two questions; one, what's your name, and two, where exactly are we going?" she inquired coolly. "Oliver Thomas, my friends call me Otto. My gang and I have discovered the top secret entrance to Halifax's top secret lair beneath the weird glowing thing everybody's so excited about" he answered.

One of the other men, his hair partly dyed light purple, said "Well it wasn't really hard to find – there's a sign over the entrance that says 'Halifax Industry Employees only'. By the way, my name's Digory" he added to Hope, "Digory Irwin. I'm in charge of all the digital stuff so everybody calls me Digi" he explained.

Otto glared at the younger man. "Digi, what have I told you about showing me up?" he hissed in a ridiculous stage whisper. Hope could hardly believe their luck. These guys were unprofessional, disorganised and probably not too bright; but they were on her and her friend's side. They could get her exactly where she needed to be. "I think we got off on the wrong foot" she smiled, offering her hand to shake, "I'm Hope, this is my sister Jenny and my boyfriend Anthony. I believe we can work together after all, Mr Thomas".

/

The plan that they concocted was simple enough; each of the 'rebels' would be dressed in the black uniforms of the company as a disguise, and slip in amongst the other employees to enter the facility. Then they would track down the force-field generator so Hope could judge just how best to turn it off without destroying Sterintol.

The team of seven, including the time travellers, Otto, Digory, Andrew and the driver Mabel, disembarked from the vehicle. Several identical vehicles were parked alongside, with employees heading in neat single rows towards their assigned places. Anthony nudged Hope's arm and pointed to a sign above a tunnel leading down into the ground. 'WARNING- DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT AHEAD. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY'.

"I'd say we're pretty authorised, wouldn't you?" he quipped. Hope grinned at him. "Yeah, I should say so. Digi, you come with me, Jenny and Ant down that entrance; if the force-field generator is down there I might need your help" she told Digory. "What about us?" hissed Andrew, wondering why she thought she could just boss them all around. "Otto, you and the others make sure nobody interferes, but don't hurt them. Just distract them, okay?" she ordered.

Oliver nodded in agreement. With that, the team went their separate ways, with four of them going through the AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY entrance, and the other three joining the longer line of employees heading for the 'RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT' entrance. Hope subtly sonic-ed the scanners built into the walls of the entrance, allowing the intruders to pass through without preamble.

Anthony came after Hope, then Digory, with Jenny bringing up the rear. Anthony did his best to keep a straight face, but he really wanted to grin as wide as he could. Despite all the drama they'd been going through, Hope still saw him as her boyfriend. She still loved him, and he was so grateful for that.

Yet he couldn't help thinking about her reasons for not wanting to marry him. With his temper cooled down he realised that he shouldn't have pushed her so hard, or sprung it on her so suddenly. _She told me she was just scared _he thought, _and I don't blame her, but there's gotta be more to it than that. What is it about relationships that scares her? _he wondered.

They hadn't encountered any 'authorised personnel' yet, and Digory was the first to point this out. "Where is everybody?" he asked. "This tunnel doesn't look well-maintained at all, and there aren't any other rooms they could've gone into" he pointed out. It was true; the plastered walls were damp, and there were outlines of bricks at intervals, as if rooms had been blocked off.

Hope shrugged. "I'd rather focus on the present than anything else. If we keep following this corridor we're bound to find someone or something sooner or later" she reasoned, and continued on. She could feel Anthony's eyes on the back of her head, and wished she knew what he was thinking about. _If we bonded I'd be able to…_she chased that thought away, not because it was unpleasant, but she wanted to stay focused. Besides, if she did bond with him, it wouldn't be just to read his mind.

Meanwhile, Anthony was trying to work out just what it was Hope was scared about. His girlfriend had always been one of the bravest people he knew; it was hard for him to imagine her being scared of anything, really. _She didn't want to be my girlfriend because of the aging difference, but I'm a Time Lord now, so that can't be it. What else…at the picnic she said having a bond mate was constricting, and it does sound pretty permanent, but with a marriage we could get divorced…I would never want to, but we could. _

His thoughts turned from listing reasons why Hope might be scared, to thinking about her personality. Perhaps that would give him a clue. _This version of Hope sure is different from the first one…well of course she's different, that's what regeneration does. She's a bit more…physical, I suppose, and she takes charge like a boss. I mean her first self would take charge if she needed to, but this Hope just…does it anyway. She's a leader..._

Hope was going over plans to seal the breach and save the city. Anthony was trying to puzzle out his girlfriend's psyche. Digory was wondering what his friends were doing, and Jenny was keeping a lookout for anyone following them. They were all pre-occupied, so none of them noticed the warning sign on the wall. Or that the concrete floor had given way to half rotted wooden boards.

As Hope's weight landed on the boards, they cracked, sending her plummeting downwards with a scream. "_Hope_!" yelled Anthony, lunging forward to grab at thin air. Digory yanked him back. "Careful, you don't want to fall through too!" the human warned him. Anthony cautiously peered into the dark hole his girlfriend had disappeared down. "Hope! Can you hear me!" he shouted.

With a pained groan, Hope looked over her shoulder at her right foot. She'd landed on it hard when she fell the five or so feet onto concrete, and now it was twisted oddly and swelling, clearly broken. There were probably many bumps and bruises flourishing all over her body. She looked up at the jagged patch of light above her, and saw the silhouette of Anthony's head appear. "Hope! Can you hear me!" he shouted.

"Yes, perfectly!" she yelled back. "Are you okay?" he asked, probably having noticed her strained voice. "Yes!" she lied. "Look, I made a mistake. This is obviously a trap- go back to Juni, tell Digi to find his friends and get them out of there. You can come back for me" she told them. "No way! I'm not leaving you behind. There's gotta be some way to pull you up!" cried Anthony.

Digory spotted a pipe right above the hole and smiled. "Wait, hang on!" he exclaimed, "I think I've got just the thing!" He pulled a ridiculously long length of wire from his inside jacket pocket. "I don't think a wire will help much" Anthony snapped. "No, it's not just any wire. It has the tensile strength of a steel cable, I invented it myself. Here, take one end and throw it over that pipe, and we'll use the other end to pull your girlfriend up" explained Digory.

"Like a pulley…that's genius!" Anthony beamed. They managed to throw one end of the wire over the piping. Digory and Jenny jumped over the boards to the safety of the concrete in order to hoist Hope up. Anthony dropped the other end of the wire down to Hope and told her to grab it if she could. A few moments later the shout came back, "Got it!"

Anthony nodded to Digory and Jenny, who braced themselves and began to tug on the wire. Hope had wound the wire about her hands for a better grip, and now it was cutting into her palms. Her arms and shoulders ached trying to support her weight as she was dragged up inch by inch. The relief she felt when Anthony's strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her to safety was tantamount.

The first thing Anthony did was kiss her, equally as relieved to see her safe and sound. Well, safe- he soon learned she wasn't quite sound when Jenny cried out "Hope what happened to your foot?!" Anthony looked and gasped at the sight of her broken foot. "It's just a twisted ankle, no big deal" she answered, but he could see the beads of sweat on her forehead and the tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Are you kidding? I learned more than Latin from my dad, you know. We've gotta get you to the TARDIS and set that break" he said determinedly. Hope stiffened in his arms. "We…we don't have time. The breach…could explode any moment…" she said, fighting with the pain. "But sis, we'd need the TARDIS to close the breach anyway. Wherever this tunnel leads, it's not to the generator; Anthony's right, we have to get out of here" Jenny insisted.

"Oh, I don't think that will factor into your plans, somehow" a voice sneered from up the corridor. They all looked up to see Halifax standing there, with Otto, Andrew and Mabel being held at gunpoint by armed guards. "I don't know how you disabled my cameras, but you forgot about the one on the front door". Halifax smiled sinisterly, "of course, I'm sure you'll be glad to give up your technology in return for your friends lives". Footsteps behind Jenny and Digory told them more guards were behind them. Rifles clicked. Muscles tensed. Hope closed her eyes.


	10. Chapter 10 Two Opened Hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Ten- Two Opened Hearts

She was a fool. She was a goddamn fool. She hadn't needed to turn off the generator, or even see it, she'd just…wanted to examine it. Hope had never seen technology that could hold back the power of the Time Vortex, and…and now her wretched curiosity had led them all into a trap. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and pulled out her sonic screwdriver. "Hope, don't"- Anthony started to say, but she stopped him with a look. "Let me handle this" she muttered.

Anthony swallowed and nodded. Hope tossed the alien device to Halifax, saying "sonic screwdriver- not really sonic, not really a screwdriver, and it just opens and locks things or turns them on and off". The cruel businessman smirked and pocketed the device. "Thank you, my dear" he told Hope, who scowled at him. "I'm not _your_ 'dear', I'm Anthony's. Now tell them to lower their guns!" she insisted.

"No can do, I'm afraid. You've all meddled in my affairs enough; the power I could get out of that breach will make me a thousand times richer. I'll be the one running this town. It is a shame I have to kill you, Miss Smith. After all, if it wasn't for you, I'd have never known about the goldmine I'd stumbled across" Halifax said airily. "Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?" demanded Digory.

Hope held up a hand, halting the rifle fire. "Actually, that's a good question. Why _are_ you doing this? Thousands of innocents could be killed. I'm guessing this goes beyond…ugh…just plain greed" she winced. Halifax's eyes narrowed. "Take aim" he said callously. "Wait…come on, I won't laugh" she gasped out, stubbornly blinking away the tears of pain that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"You want to know why I'm doing this?" asked Halifax. Hope nodded. "Because _I _should be the one in charge of this city" he snarled, "like my father would have been before a wretch like this murdered him!" he jerked his pistol towards Oliver. "What? You wanna kill everyone because one guy killed your dad? That's messed up" said Andrew. "Shut up!" hissed Mabel.

"She's right, shut up. You slum-dwellers are all the same; rotten criminals wallowing in the dirt!" Halifax shouted hysterically. "Who gives a damn if you all die!" he cried, apparently forgetting that he would be eradicated too. Hope didn't know if it was the pressures of his job or long lasting survivors guilt over his father's death, or a mixture of both, but Halifax was obviously insane.

Through gritted teeth she said, "I'm sorry about your dad, but I have to stop you". With that, she set a high pitched pulse emanated from her sonic…screwdriver? As Halifax and his guards fell to their knees, Anthony stared at Hope in shock. "What, you didn't really think I'd hand the sonic over did you?" she laughed. Jenny leapt forwards and snatched one of the guards guns, Digory following her lead. Otto, Andrew and Mabel grabbed the two rifles and the pistol respectively.

"Now what?" asked Otto, when they heard a rumbling noise. The ground began to tremble. "What is that?" asked Mabel, aiming the gun at Halifax. Her hands were trembling. "The beginning of the end" answered Hope, pulling the wire from her hands. She tossed it to Andrew. "Tie Halifax up with this. Jenny!" she called, and her sister handed the rifle to Digory and jumped back over the hole at once. "Go back to Juni and get her to bring the city out of time…ten minutes or so should do it. Oliver, go with her and get the police" ordered Hope.

Jenny saluted and dashed off, Otto close on her heels. "What does she mean, bring Sterintol out of time?" he asked the blonde, who shook her head. "Less asking, more running! I don't have much time!" she called back.

/

_Okay, Hope's taken charge- now it's my turn _thought Anthony_. _"Hope, is there any reason why you need to stay here in this exact spot?" he asked his girlfriend, who shook her head. Anthony lifted her into his arms, taking care not to agitate her broken foot too much. It made him feel sick just looking at the injury. Hope squirmed in his arms, trying to get out of them. "It's fine. Put me down, I can hop. My dad did that once. Hopped for his life" she rambled.

Her boyfriend pushed past the guards and 'rebels' and headed down the corridor. "Do you seriously think you can make it to the TARDIS with a broken foot?" he asked. "The TARDIS won't be there, Ant", she whimpered in pain, "Jenny's putting the city in a bubble of space-time but the breach and the TARDIS will be left behind. Juni won't get destroyed, so…ah...don't…worry" she gritted her teeth, tears falling down her cheeks.

Anthony pushed on heedless of her words. "Better that I start heading back now. Hope, be honest – why don't you want me to help you? You've always been stubborn, but this is ridiculous even by your standards" he teased her, trying to make her smile. She stuck her tongue out at him instead. Oh well, at least she still had a sense of humour.

"I just…I hate pain…I feel weak. Useless" she managed to say. "Oh love, being in pain doesn't make you useless. You have no idea how impressed I am that you saved us all when you're in such pain" Anthony told her. "That's…just it…I can…help you…I can't… help…myself" she moaned, perspiring from the effort of speaking. "That's why I'm here. Save your strength, okay? We're gonna make it" he said determinedly.

The shaking was getting worse, and it was difficult to keep his balance, but Anthony persevered. As he emerged from the tunnel into a flurried crowd of panicking employees, the shaking abruptly stopped. Anthony looked at Hope, who smiled briefly, and he knew that Jenny must have gotten to the TARDIS in time. He continued to carry Hope through the streets to the plaza where they'd left the TARDIS.

He felt like everything was clear now. When Hope had struggled to tell him why she hated being in pain, she'd looked _afraid_. Not afraid of pain, but scared of being left helpless. Except it wasn't just pain, but _any_ situation where she had to rely on someone else; Hope was scared of being dependent, Anthony was sure of it. When he reached the plaza, he set Hope down, keeping her leg elevated on his own, and cradled her head in the palm of his left hand.

Hope's beautiful blonde hair splayed out, her chest rising and falling slowly. She appeared to have fallen asleep, or into that healing coma that she'd taught him about. "It's okay" he murmured to her, ignoring the stares of other civilians. A couple of people asked if he wanted a lift to the hospital, but he declined, saying their ride would be here any minute. "There's nothing to worry about. Everything's going to be fine" he reassured Hope, squeezing her hand.

Juni silently materialised around her injured main pilot, the perception filters tricking everyone into thinking the newspaper stand had always been there in place of Hope and Anthony. The first notion Anthony had of this was when Jenny appeared at his shoulder, crouching down to help lift Hope. They carried her to the med bay, where Anthony set about X-raying and setting the break.

Whilst he was doing that, Jenny returned Sterintol to its proper place in time and space. The explosion had blasted out a thirty kilometre wide, five kilometre deep crater, and caused the breach to snap shut with the rebound force. Jenny didn't want to take any chances, so she sealed the breach out of time and space anyway.

She double checked that the breach wouldn't leak into the real timeline, and then went out to find Otto and his friends. She headed for the outpost of Halifax Industries near the crater that formerly held the breach, and found the police there arresting Halifax and all his employees. "Jenny!" cried a familiar voice. The young Time Lady waved to Digory and the others, flashing her psychic paper at the policeman guarding them.

He apologised and stepped aside. Jenny was glad she'd thought to change her jacket before coming out; she could've ended up being arrested, and that wouldn't have helped anyone. "Uh, Jenny, why is Sterintol suddenly in a crater?" asked Digory. "Oh it's an earthquake… sinkhole thing. I dunno, I failed geography" she shrugged. "Is Hope alright?" asked Otto. Jenny nodded. "I just came back to make sure you guys were alright, but I've gotta get going. See you around" she grinned, before sauntering off.

/

Back on the TARDIS, Anthony had finished patching Hope up. Of course, having a bone regenerator handy helped matters enormously. He held her hand as she regained consciousness. "Ant?" she asked blearily. "I'm here. We did it, Hope. We saved Sterintol" he smiled at her. Hope tried to sit up and get out of the bed, but Anthony pushed her back gently. "Oh no you don't; you've gotta stay off that leg for a few hours. I'm sure Jenny can handle flying Juni" he instructed.

Hope gave a frustrated groan. "I hate my life" she grumbled, and Anthony chuckled. "So…now that we've saved the day, do you want to have that talk?" he asked. Hope sighed. "I guess so…I talked to my parents about you and I and marriage, bonding, that kind of stuff. See, I'd always thought bonding meant you died with your bond mate, but my mum explained that we'd have a choice" she began.

"I've been thinking about it, on and off, all day and…I _want_ to bond with you, but there's so much in the way, like, you having a human mind. No offence, it's not a bad thing, it's just that I don't even know if I can bond with you on that level" she explained hurriedly. Anthony smiled at her. "I understand. I've been thinking about it as well- actually, I've been trying to work out why you're scared of getting married or bonded. I think…I think it's because you're afraid of being dependent" he told her.

Hope's brow furrowed in confusion. Anthony explained his reasoning, and she looked thoughtful. He loved the scrunched up face she made when she was concentrating. "I think…you're right. I never really thought about it before, but I suppose I am a bit scared of being helpless. Except it's more than that. I'm not just scared of having to rely on someone, I'm…I'm scared someone will rely on me and…I'll end up failing them" she admitted.

It was clear who she really meant by 'someone'. "Oh, you could never fail me" Anthony told her, but Hope looked away, un-reassured. "I did it today" she said bitterly, "I led us all into a trap just because I wanted to see Halifax's force-field generator. I should've realised the damn corridor wouldn't lead to the damn machine!" she cried, thumping her fist on the mattress.

"Hope, I was the one who pointed out that tunnel. All of us should have realised something was wrong and turned back, but we didn't. You're not the only one at fault here" he told her. "Oddly enough, that doesn't make me feel any better" she huffed. Anthony leaned over and gave her a long kiss. "Does that?" he asked when he pulled away. Hope grabbed his lapels and pulled him back. "You should wear jackets like that more often" she murmured, before snogging him thoroughly.


	11. Chapter 11 Confessions and Promises

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

Connection 

Chapter Eleven – Confessions and Promises

"Can I get up now?" Hope asked plaintively when Anthony pulled away. He shook his head. "No can do. The instructions said to stay off your foot for a couple of hours and it's only been five minutes" he told Hope, who groaned in frustration. "I. Hate. Being. Hurt" she enunciated, banging her head against the pillow with each word. "Nobody likes being hurt, love. I promise though, you can always count on me to look after you" Anthony said seriously.

Hope smiled at him. "I know I can. I do trust you, Anthony. It's myself that I don't trust" she sighed. Anthony lifted her hand in his and ran a thumb over her knuckles. "Hope, don't beat yourself up about today. You made a mistake, that's all – and you still managed to save us. Actually, since we're on the subject, when am I getting a sonic screwdriver?" he asked teasingly. "Well, I might just make you one – and then again, I might not" she replied. They both chuckled.

Jenny came into the med-bay, pleased to see her sister awake and healed. "Otto, Digi and everyone else are fine. I sealed the breach out of sync with the main timeline, it should hold it until we find a more permanent solution" she reported. "Good work, Jen" Hope praised her with a grin. It fell from her face quickly. "We need to know more about these breaches. Jenny, can you call mum and dad and see if they have any information?" she asked Jenny, who nodded and with a mock salute, turned on her heel and left the room.

"When I was little my mum used to say, if I was ever in need and I couldn't go to her or dad, I should go to the Ood" Hope remembered. Anthony raised an eyebrow. "What's an Ood?" he inquired. Hope giggled. "When I was a toddler I called them 'talking spaghetti'" she sniggered, "but they're allies of my parents, and there's a chance they might know something about the…Anthony, that's an Ood" she said, looking over his shoulder.

Anthony turned around to see an alien with a bald head and tentacles standing before them. He jumped to his feet at once. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" he demanded. "It's alright, Ant, he's a projection. Nice reflexes though" said Hope, before looking at the Ood. "I take it you're here to summon me? I was going to come see you guys anyway, you know" she informed the alien. The Ood nodded to them both and faded out of sight.

Anthony blinked and looked at Hope. "Is that…normal, for them?" he asked. "Yeah, they're very Ood" she replied. Anthony face-palmed at the terrible joke, and Hope giggled. "Right, your title isn't going to be 'The Comedian' then" he snarked, dodging Hope's arm as she swatted at him. "Oi, get over here and get hit like a man" she demanded. "Fine, it's not like it'll hurt. You hit like a girl!" he teased her.

His girlfriend rolled her eyes. "I _am _a girl, Captain Obvious. D'you get the feeling we're avoiding something?" she asked. Anthony came and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Hope…I trust you. You might not trust yourself but I do trust you, and I know, we _both_ know, you wouldn't let me down" he said earnestly, all the levity of before fading away. "If you don't want to marry me, or bond with me, that's okay. I don't need a ring or a piece of paper to prove I love you. I realise that now".

Hope sighed. "It's not fair for me to leave you hanging" she sighed, "if you trust me then I shouldn't hurt you…I'm still scared, of losing you or not being good enough for you…but, I want to…" she swallowed, "I want to marry you, Anthony, if it will make you happy. Perhaps one day we'll become bond mates, maybe we'll forge a whole new bond…until then, if you want to…" she trailed off.

Very slowly, Anthony reached inside his pocket and pulled out the ring he'd kept with him ever since his first proposal attempt. "Are you sure?" he asked her. Hope bit her lip and nodded. "If you change your mind, I'll understand" he told her, and she shook her head. "I won't" she insisted. So Anthony opened the box, and took out the ring. The diamond glittered in the light like a tiny star. He slipped it onto Hope's ring finger; it was a perfect fit.

Tears in her eyes, Hope beamed happily at Anthony. "Oh Ant, it's beautiful" she sighed, admiring the multi-faceted gem. She leaned forwards and kissed him. "My dad's gonna kill you" she reminded him when she pulled back. "Eh, I'll regenerate happy" he shrugged, giving her another kiss. Just then Jenny came in to tell them the Doctor and Anna hadn't found out anything about the breaches or encountered one yet. She saw the ring gleaming on Hope's finger and grinned, backing out of the door. She'd give them a moment or two.

/

When Hope's foot had healed well enough for her to walk, she wasted no time in heading for the TARDIS console room. The co-ordinates were soon set for the Ood Sphere, and Hope advised Anthony and Jenny to put on coats. They emerged onto the frozen white landscape with the TARDIS taking the form of a blue police box. "Juni likes to go into that form from time to time" explained Hope.

She led them towards the city. On the outskirts, they were greeted by an Ood with a translator ball attached to his mouth. "Welcome Hope. You and your companions are expected by the Ood Elders. I am Ood Niklos" he informed them, before beckoning them on. "Niklos? That sounds Greek" Anthony commented. "The Ood used to be a slave race" said Hope, "a lot of them were named after Greek letters. I guess the pattern stuck".

Ood Niklos led them into a torch-lit cavern, with several robed Ood sitting in a circle and chanting. The time travellers waited respectfully whilst Ood Niklos approached the circle. Anthony could hear a haunting melody echoing in his mind. "Hope, that music...is it from them?" he asked her. Hope seemed surprised that he could hear it. "Yeah, that's the Ood Song. Beautiful, isn't it?" she smiled.

"Not as beautiful as you" replied Anthony. He would have kissed her, but he didn't know if that kind of thing would be frowned upon here. Just then Ood Niklos returned to bring them forwards. Hope, Jenny and Anthony stepped up to the Elders of the Ood. _Welcome, daughters of time, son of Earth_ they spoke telepathically. It was a weird feeling, being spoken to inside your own head.

"Thank you, Elders. When one of your kind summoned me, I had actually planned to come here of my own accord. Tell me, why did you want me?" asked Jenny. Anthony got the impression that she was only speaking aloud for his and Jenny's benefit. _Time is decaying, and reality is collapsing slowly but surely_. Well, that didn't sound too good. _We summoned you here to reveal the secret to saving the Universe_.

Hope smiled. "I take it you're referring to the breaches in time and space? We've tried to close the two we've found, but with no luck" she told the Elders. _There are eleven breaches, and each must be closed with a TARDIS simultaneously revealed the Ood Elders_. The smile disappeared from Hope's face. "Eleven TARDISes? They'll all need pilots and there's only...there's only...I think I have an idea". The smile was back.

"Do you know why the breaches are happening?" Jenny asked the Elders. _We do not, though we believe the cause lies with the Time Lock on Gallifrey_. The smile on Hope's face vanished once more. Oh, please don't let the Time Lock be opening. She'd read a book about the Time War in her parents library, it was how she found out what her father did to their species, and she knew the horrors were unimaginable_. Fear not, daughter of time. The Time Lock will not break, but it is breaking time_.

_The strain of keeping the Time Lock in place has been slowly weakening the Vortex. It has become easier for its denizens to emerge into reality and for gaps into the Void to form. Now, the strain has reached its peak, and the walls between the realities are disintegrating_ explained the Elders. _The Time Lock will release if the Vortex is destroyed...but its horrors will be unleashed on an empty cosmos._

The sheer enormity of what they were facing slowly sank into Anthony's mind. He wondered what Hope's plan was, because he could see no possible solution. Of course knowing his girlfriend her solution was likely to be impossible. "Thank you, Elders, for your advice. We ought to be leaving, and saving the universe. Hopefully we'll be able to return soon under better circumstances" said Hope.

They bowed to the Ood Elders, and were escorted back to their TARDIS by Ood Niklos. "Niklos, you wouldn't happen to be related to Ood Sigma, would you?" asked Hope. The Ood replied, "I am his offspring. He would have been pleased to see you again". Hope gave a fond smile. "As would I...and by the way, I totally beat you in that snowball fight when we were kids" she grinned, before hopping inside her ship.

Jenny and Anthony followed her. "You knew him?" asked Jenny. "I didn't recognise him at first" Hope admitted, "but yeah, he's the son of my dad's old friend Ood Sigma. I met him on my first trip here when I was three" she explained. "I hope you really do have a plan, Hope" said her sister, and Hope mock pouted at them. "Oh, you insult my brilliance! Of course I have a plan. It's crazy, just the way I like it" she grinned eagerly.

The first thing she did was send a set of co-ordinates to her dad's psychic paper. She set the same co-ordinates and the three of them piloted Juni to the rendezvous point. Their time machine landed in a familiar locale; Messaline. "I thought you might want to check up on things, prime minister" Hope teased her sister. Jenny didn't mind; it was nice to be back.

Hope's parents and little brother arrived soon after they did. Danny barrelled out of the TARDIS and into Hope with a delighted loud yell. "Whoa, whoa! Where's the fire? Gosh, I missed you, champ" she smiled. The little boy grinned back and then pouted. "I missed you too. You never have time for me anymore". Hope ruffled her brothers brown hair. "Sorry, Danny. I'm busy being awesome and saving the universe".

Danny went to greet Anthony with a fist bump whilst Hope walked over to give her parents a hug. "Is this something to do with the breaches?" asked the Doctor. "Yeah, but first, I have a huge announcement to make". Hope beamed and wound her arm around Anthony's shoulders; he put his around her waist. "Mum, dad, Danny...Anthony and I are getting married!" she squealed.

Anna clapped her hands with a happy squeal of her own. "Oh, darling! That's wonderful!" she enthused, hugging her daughter close. Hope proudly showed off her engagement ring. "What d'you think, dad?" she asked the Doctor, who stared at the ring with an unreadable expression. He looked from it to Anthony, who gulped. Well, I guess I'll soon find out what it's like to regenerate, even though I can't he thought.

The Doctor held out his hand and Anthony flinched, only to blush when he realised the older Time Lord only wanted to shake hands. Before he could, however, the Doctor said clearly, "Break her hearts, I break your hands. And arms. And legs". Anthony swallowed and nodded. "I won't, sir. Believe me, I have no intention of hurting your daughter" he said seriously, shaking the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor smiled at Hope and said, "Your ring is lovely, sweetheart. Come here". He kissed her forehead and hugged her. "Aww...listen, I hate to break up the sweet moment, but we've kind of got a big issue to deal with" Jenny reminded them. Hope told her parents what the Ood had told them, about why the breaches were forming, and how they could stop them. And then, she explained her own plan to save the universe and all realities from disintegrating.

When she'd finished, you could have heard a feather land on the floor. The Doctor was the first to speak. "So, let me get this straight. You want your mother and I to grow nine more TARDISes, whilst you go to collect DNA from renegade Time Lords and bring it back here to be reconstituted inside one of the progenitors?" he asked. Hope smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell" she agreed. The Doctor ran a hand down his face.

"That is the most reckless, insane, impossible plan I have ever heard anyone come up with" he said, shaking his head. "So, are you in?" asked his daughter. The Doctor smiled. "Of course we're in" he answered. "What are we waiting for?" asked Anthony. Jenny raised her hand. "Actually...I'm going to stay here. I'm still prime minister...but I think I might start having elections for a replacement" she admitted.

Hope was…disappointed, to say the least. "Oh…yeah, I understand. So, I guess it's just you and me then, hey Ant?" she smiled at her boy- no, her fiancé. Anthony smiled and nodded. "You and me, taking on the world" he agreed. The time family began to plan, working out everything to the smallest detail. Data gathered by their TARDISes revealed there were five weeks left until the Vortex broke completely and consumed everything. Still, as Hope pointed out, her dad had saved the world in less time with nothing but a big stone box and a fez.


	12. Chapter 12 Genes and Machines

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Connection 

Chapter Twelve – Genes and Machines

Anthony hugged Hope from behind as she stood at the console. "Hey. You alright?" he asked. "Yeah" she sighed, "I just…I wish Jenny was coming with us. I know I'll see her again soon but…" she trailed off with a shrug. "I get it. You two are sisters, and you've only just found each other" said Anthony. Hope smiled and gave him a kiss. "Thanks for understanding" she murmured.

"Tis one of my many talents, milady; so, I take it we're getting married after the universe is saved from mortal peril?" he inquired. "Of course, and if worse comes to worse we can just have a shotgun wedding" replied Hope as she worked the controls and brought up the scanner screen. Her father had given her a list of all the Time Lords he'd known that were 'good guys'.

Hope knew that her dad was sceptical she could pull this off; she was going to prove him wrong. She input the name of the first Time Lord on the list – Romanavotrelundar. "Is your real name that complicated?" asked Anthony. "That's none of your business" Hope retorted lightly, analysing the data on the screen before her. "Right…the latest version that isn't Time Locked on Gallifrey is on the planet Tigella in 1980" she deduced, inputting the co-ordinates and then opening a compartment in the console.

She took out a sealed packet. When they landed, the engaged pair walked out of the TARDIS onto Tigella. To their left stood a city in the near distance; to their right, a Time Lady was struggling with what looked like moving plants. Anthony made to help her, but Hope held him back. "We have to interfere as little as possible; we're altering the timeline just by _being _here" she informed him.

Hope then opened the packet and very carefully slipped on the skin coloured glove inside, taking care not to touch it herself. They watched as the Time Lady extricated herself from the plants and began to run towards the city. When she noticed Hope and Anthony, her eyes widened and she paused. "The Doctor didn't leave the TARDIS there…who are you?" she demanded.

Smiling politely, Hope stepped forward, holding out her gloved hand. "It's okay; we're renegades too. We're huge fans of you and the Doctor" she told Romana, who blinked bemusedly. "Well, he'll be pleased to hear that" she muttered to herself, before shaking Hope's outstretched hand. "It was great to meet you; come on Ant, let's go before we're caught!" Hope said cheerfully. Anthony waved to Romana, and followed Hope into the TARDIS.

Bewildered, Romana turned to head for the Tigellan city. It wasn't unusual to run into other renegades, but to meet two such young Time Lords in a TARDIS that looked just like the Doctor's…and was it just her, or did that girls hand feel oddly…rubbery?

/

Inside Juni's laboratory, Hope carefully extracted Romana's DNA from the sterilised glove before destroying it. Then she placed the DNA into a sealed phial. "Right, one down, eight more to go!" she announced cheerfully. This time, she ran a search for the latest temporal instance of 'Arkytior', and quickly assessed the best point in time and space to find the Gallifreyan. "Can I get the DNA this time?" asked Anthony. "Yeah, sure" Hope answered.

When they emerged from the TARDIS, which was disguised as a telephone box, they found London in ruins. "Let me guess, the London Blitz?" Anthony surmised. Hope silently pointed to a shell of a Dalek standing on the opposite street. Anthony was pretty sure the Daleks had never turned up in World War Two- mainly because he probably wouldn't have been born to learn about it.

"It's 2164, sometime after the Dalek Invasion of Earth" Hope explained, before spotting their quarry walking through the streets, arm in arm with a human. "There she is. Now remember, play it cool" she advised. Anthony scoffed, and went to catch up with the Gallifreyan. "Excuse me?" he called, just as he stumbled over his shoelace. Watching from behind a nearby wall, Hope sniggered.

Anthony caught himself and straightened up, smiling awkwardly. "Are you alright?" Susan asked in concern. "Um, yes, I'm fine, I just err...it's nice to meet you" he said, holding out his gloved right hand. Susan smiled and shook it, saying "You too; I'm Susan, this is my fiancé David". Anthony let go of Susan's hand and held up his left, shaking a confused David's hand. "Congratulations. I'm err, actually going to meet my fiancé. Is there a park down there?" he asked, pointing behind them.

"Um, not anymore" said David. "Oh, well. Sorry I troubled you, goodbye!" Anthony said with a wave, before striding across the road. "Well, that was odd" David commented. "Yes, I think the poor man might have hit his head on something" Susan said in concern. "Personally, I think he was just drunk. Come on, love; let's get to the market before all the food runs out" said her fiancé, ushering her away.

Meanwhile, Anthony and Hope were extracting Susan's DNA from the glove. "I made such a huge fool of myself" Anthony groaned in frustration. "Don't worry; with any luck, the genetic reformation process will cause amnesia and she'll forget you and she ever met" Hope teased him. Anthony stuck his tongue out at her.

/

"It's good to have you back" said Cline as he walked alongside Jenny through the tunnels beneath the town. Behind them, a construction robot wheeled along, beeping occassionally. "I'm sorry I left with no notice…I just couldn't pass up the chance to travel the universe with my sister" she replied. She wondered how Hope and Anthony were getting on with their part of the mission. Jenny prayed nothing would happen to either of them; otherwise the other would be heartbroken.

They made their way to the theatre and found the dust covered progenitor machines. Under Jenny's instructions, the robot picked up the first machine and began to carry it out of the room. "So, we're cloning copies of your dad's people from these?" asked Cline. "Basically, yeah" replied Jenny. They moved the second machine into position. "I just have to rewire them all to replicate the cellular structure and the Time Lord form" she explained.

Cline nodded in understanding; at least he thought he understood. "Um, Prime Minister?" he began nervously. Jenny smiled kindly at him. "You can just call me Jenny, if you want" she told Cline, who swallowed and smiled back awkwardly. "Okay…Jenny, I've been thinking…since the universe might end soon…would you perhaps like to um, go out with me?"

Jenny considered the offer. She knew that Hope had dated Anthony before he became a Time Lord, and even though she was sure they could save the universe, how could she pass up this opportunity? "Alright; how about I meet you tomorrow, about six thirty by the fountain?" she inquired. Cline stared at her. Then his brain caught up with her words and he nodded fervently. "Yes, right. Perfect" he gulped.

/

Anna smiled as she watched her son run around playing tag with the other Messalinian children. It was good to see Danny so carefree and happy; she'd been worried the idea of the universe ending would scare him. "Hope will save the day" he kept insisting. Danny had complete faith in his elder sister and was content to play as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

It was good in another way too; at first, Danny had been more than eager to 'help' them all save the universe. He was as rambunctious as his sister had been at that age and often hindered more than he helped. In the end, the Doctor had taken him aside and asked him to keep the other children occupied, so that none of them would find out about the danger. The idea of 'guarding' the mission and making new friends at the same time appealed to Danny immensely.

Content that Danny was in safe hands, Anna entered the TARDIS and went to find the Doctor. He was in the room they had set aside to grow the nine TARDISes they needed. Shatter-frying the plasmic shell of one TARDIS coral was difficult enough, and to make matters worse each coral was slightly different. They needed to be monitored constantly, with minute adjustments made by the hour.

"For the first time in nearly two thousand years" the Doctor sighed as Anna came in, rubbing his temples, "I am genuinely considering just letting the universe blow up". Anna sat down on the rug he knelt on besides him. "We can't give up, Thief. The universe will cease to exist if we don't do this, no matter how difficult it is" she reminded him. "Saving the universe has always been difficult" he said in frustration, "but it has never been _dull_".

Anna laughed. She rubbed his shoulders and said "I'll keep you company for a bit, then. Try to look on the bright side, dear; if Hope's plan works, you might have your people back". The Doctor smiled tentatively. "Yes, there is that" he agreed.

/

"I think I'd better get the sample this time" said Anthony. He and Hope were standing outside a lamppost shaped TARDIS (he still had no idea how they'd got out of it), opposite a seedy looking pub on an asteroid. Inside, according to Juni's scanners, was the third Time Lord on the list; The Corsair. Wasn't corsair another word for pirate? He certainly looked like he belonged in this place.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't think I can handle myself?" she asked. "I'm sure you could easily flip that guy over your shoulder" replied Anthony, pointing to a raucous bearded human arguing with a red skinned alien. "I'm just concerned about people trying to make a pass at you" he explained. Hope snorted in amusement. "Well, it could happen! You're not wearing your ring" he protested. Sure enough, Hope's fingers were bare.

"Yeah, so it's not _stolen_. Don't worry so much, Ant; if any guy flirts with me I'll just punch him. That usually puts people off" she said, slipping her hand into the sterilised, skin tinted glove. "Besides", she added as they crossed the road, "it's the fifty-first century, they're just as likely to flirt with _you_".

The inside of the pub was loud, crowded and stank of ale. It was like being inside a Jack Sparrow movie, Anthony thought as they shouldered their way through the drunken crowd. "So how do we find him?!" he shouted to Hope over the din. "… Go upstairs!" she called back over her shoulder. "Hey, gorgeous! How'd you like to get your"- the leering drunk never finished his sentence before Hope delivered a punch to the jaw.

Stunned, the man swung at Anthony with an angry drunken roar. Anthony ducked, the man's fist connected with an alien's head, and soon a full on brawl was in play. Hope dragged Anthony out of the crossfire and into an alcove that led to the stairs. They could hear the sounds of smashing glass and profane shouts all the way up on the landing.

Hope reached out to sense the Corsair's whereabouts. The man himself suddenly burst out of his room and ran down the corridor away from them. Without thinking, Anthony dashed forwards and rugby tackled the other Time Lord to the floor. He pinned the Corsair down as Hope stepped around them. "Anthony, let him up" she instructed. Anthony got to his feet and brushed himself down. Hope reached down with her gloved hand and pulled the Corsair to his feet.

"You know, we weren't chasing you" she informed him. The Corsair raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You're telling me you don't work for the CIA?" he asked. "Do we look like we're from the CIA? And besides, I thought you worked for them" Hope replied levelly. The Corsair cleared his throat awkwardly. "I err…owe the leader some money" he admitted.

Hope nodded and looked out of a nearby window. Just as she'd hoped, there was a fire escape on the back of the building. Hope used her sonic to open the window and turned to the Corsair. "I'd advise you to come out this way; we started a rather nasty bar fight downstairs. C'mon Ant" she beckoned. Anthony came forwards and followed Hope out of the window. "Hang on" the Corsair called when Anthony was about to climb through, "Why _are_ you here?"

Anthony decided to answer honestly. He got out of the window, stuck his head back in and said "My fiancé and I are saving the universe before we get married".


End file.
